The Measure Of Things
by snowglobe18
Summary: A year and a half after their divorce, not because of Georgie Lane, Captain James asks ex wife Molly Dawes to be his medic for a mission and as she reluctantly agrees does Captain James have another motive for his ex wife being on the mission with him or does he just want a medic that he knows well enough to help with flood relief?
1. Chapter 1

_**I promise that it's not the end of Snowed In, it's just I had this idea moving about in my head and decided to write about it and see how it actually pans out so it might be a little bit rough going in the beginning but it should all get together in the end.**_

-.-

The day pretty much started out the same way it always did for Molly Dawes; breakfast, mentoring the new recruits so that they could actually excel at what they are doing, having a joke with some of the other soldiers but it then took a turn in a different direction and she wondered just what she had done to even have this happen to her.

Why _he_ had to come and find her especially when she was hoping that he wouldn't speak to her again after the divorce but clearly someone hated Molly enough that they would put her in this position.

Molly and Charles had broke up over three years ago and got a divorce a little over a year and a half ago and she hadn't spoken to him since mostly because of the fact that she wanted to keep some distance from him. Charles had dragged his feet not wanting the divorce but Molly had been insistant on it especially when she wanted to move on with her life.

Things hadn't been going right for a while and they had loved each other but sometimes it just didn't work out, no one was to blame but Molly had wanted to just move on.

Now they were here and Molly had started to wonder if she could hide away from him and pray that he wouldn't actually see her but it was too late because he was walking over to her and he looked really good but Molly wasn't buying it again, if they hadn't worked out the first time there was no point in actually going back there.

"Dawes" He hated calling her Dawes again, Molly had changed her name back to that after the divorce even though he guessed it might've taken her a while to get used to it again but he will always think of her as Molly James.

Molly looked over at him and sighed and she knew that it was no way to greet a Captain but it was definitely a way to greet her ex husband; it had been a while since she had seen him and now he was here with his cute smile and his charm and Molly really didn't want to end up going down that path again.

"Sir" she had said. "What brings you out to see me on a day like this?" it was raining.

"And what makes you think that I have come to see you?"

Molly chewed on her lip for a moment because of the fact that if he hadn't come out to see her then this was seriously fucking awkward and now she wanted the ground to swallow her whole because she was stuck there trying to find the right words in which she said something that didn't make her sound like an idiot and now she realised she was staring so she dropped her eyes away. "Well.. I wasn't..." she really didn't know what to say right now.

"So why are you here?" Molly asked after a moment.

"I'm heading out of the UK and I need..." he was cut off by Molly.

"Don't say it, the answer is no"

"I need a medic and you are pretty much the best damn medic I can think of right now, I need your help"

"Have you asked Georgie?"

"Lane is actually UK based now that she's married to Elvis"

"There is Jackie"

"She's out of the country"

Molly raised an eyebrow at him "No she's not I spoke to her yesterday"

He gave a smile at her and then finally said "Okay fine she's not but I didn't want any of them because I had already made up my mind on who I wanted to come with us"

Molly both hated the fact that he had come to her and liked that he did come to her, it was a very mixed up emotional moment right now. It honestly made her want to mentally kick herself because this wasn't something she wanted to be going through on a day like this. Charles really did have a nerve to come and ask for her help and expect her to want to do it in the first place.

But at the same time it would mean that she would be back on the team with the boys and it wouldn't feel like she had been away too much. The big problem was the fact that she would be serving under her ex husband once more and she wasn't sure if that was the best idea, even though their split hadn't been nasty with claws and words flying, it also wasn't the best moment between them either but if there was no Jackie or no Georgie then what was she going to do?

"I've spoken to your CO and he approved it and all you have to do is say yes"

Molly sighed and closed her eyes for a moment and really wished the ground would swallow her up right now because she didn't want to be in this moment especially when Charles was no doubt looking at her like he would really be upset if she turned him down and she was so tempted to do it, so tempted to just say no again and move away going about the rest of her day cursing the fact that he had actually turned up and asked her in the first place but he did say that she was the best damn medic he knew.

He was still cheesy with the compliments. Still had that cheesy smile that he liked to actually give her when he thought that he could get away with it and now he was trying to get away with coming here and asking for her help, well at least he did ask for her help and not actually demand that she give up her time to go to whatever place he was going to be going to this time around.

Molly couldn't believe that she was asking this, opening up her eyes she looked up at him "So where are you going this time? I haven't said yes but I want to know exactly where it would be before I even answer even though I might still go with the answer I gave you just now"

"We're going Sierra Leone and I really do need that medic to help out"

"Floods?"

"That is correct and you will get the lovely team, myself, Mansfield, Brains, Fingers..."

"Is he still insisting that he's from Derby?" Molly had come across them a few times and they liked to text her just to see how she's doing especially Fingers and Brains and Mansfield still made her laugh when she thought about the fact that he had cut his forehead with a bloody razor of all things back in Afghan.

"Some things never change with the team, like the fact that Mansfield Mike still keeps saying that he is in fact from Derby, and I really don't have a lot of time so what do you say Dawes? Do you want to go on another mission with me and 2 Section because I'm sure they will _love_ having you back on the team, they don't actually seem to want to forgive me for marrying you so that you had to leave in the first place"

"Only because I had the best poptarts" Molly joked and then finally she said. "Fine, I'll come but it's only for this time so don't come back here with your perfect smile wanting me to go on another one"

"You think my smile is perfect?" he teased at her and wiggled his eyebrows before letting a grin pull at his lips.

"Bugger off" she replied and then started to walk away from him.

"That's no way to talk to a Captain, Dawes" he called after her but he still had the smile on his lips because of the fact that Molly would be coming with them.

Molly stopped and gave a sarcastic curtsy and then walked off. If they were going to Sierra Leone then he would mean that he would be concentrating on the task in hand rather than actually trying to talk to her about how their marriage fell apart especially when that was the last thing she wanted to be talking about right now. She guessed that she would have to actually get her kit ready because no doubt they would be leaving as soon as they can and she was going to say her goodbyes to her family because they always wanted to know when she would be out of the country.

How the hell was she going to explain that she would once again be under the command of Captain James?

Either way she was going to make sure that they all got through this mission and came out of it in one piece.

Including her bloody ex husband.


	2. Chapter 2

Molly had thought that all of this had just been a dream that Charles hadn't come to her asking her to be his medic on a mission but nope it hadn't been a dream it had been real and now she was awake Molly wondered what the hell she had been thinking when it came to accepting his offer. She could've demand more that he went for someone else because of the fact that they were married but she hadn't really given up much of a fight.

So when she got her stuff together and talked to her family she hadn't told them that she was underneath Captain James and honestly she had been underneath him quiet a few times, she would rather not tell them that her ex husband had come calling and she had accepted his offer.

Molly wasn't sure if Charles had told the rest of the team that she would be joining them but she would rather he kept it a secret so she asked another female medic to check the equipment or look as if she was checking it so that she could come in and give the others a big surprise.

It seemed to be going well because when the rest of 2-Section arrived to help out with the supplies Mansfield Mike was swaggering up to the new female, Fingers was checking her out as he usually did and Brains was talking to someone else on the team she had to laugh because Mansfield's voice carried over to her and she heard him say..

" _You must be the new medic, nice to meet your acquaintance darling, my name's Mansfield Mike though I'm not actually from Mansfield_ "

Molly had to laugh because of the fact that it was mostly what he had said to her the first day that she had joined the team when they were going to Afghan. She then came out and sighed before she said loudly "Are you _still_ pushing that drivel, everyone knows you're from Mansfield"

At that Mansfield turned around and so did the rest of the team and the three that had been with her in Afghan actually came over to her. "Oh jesus" she said and then suffered through the hugs of these three sweaty men.

"No one said that you would be joining us, Dawesy" Brains spoke as he pulled away from the hug to look at her. "I mean you _are_ joining us on this mission, right?"

"No, I thought that I would come up all this way to just wave you off" She said sarcastically and then spoke once more "Can you at least let me breathe properly?" Molly was pretty much being squeezed by these two guys and while they were actually taller than her they were still bigger than her in size too and she needed to be able to breathe.

"Sorry, Molly" both Fingers and Mansfield said at the same time before Fingers actually started talking again. "Don't be silly, Brains, she's come all this way to see me ain't that right Molly" he winked at her before grinning once more.

"Oh, good one" she rolled her eyes before looking at the three guys that she did know, and then started to reply to them "Yes I am joining the mission," she then moved on to Fingers "No, I'm not here to see your ugly mug," then on to Mansfield "You're still not from bloody Derby"

"So the other female?" Brains nudged his head to the other female that had been going through the equipment "You asked her to take over so that you can surprise us"

"Not just a pretty face" Molly said and patted his chest before she moved over to where the other woman was and relieved her from pretending and then picked up the clipboard.

"Well it's nice to have the team back now that Dawesy is back" Fingers muttered to the other two.

"And if you don't get on with loading this stuff up then it'll be three less, move" Captain James had said to the three that had been standing around talking to each other after Molly had actually moved over to the kit.

Monk, who had been watching the exchange, nudged Brains when he came over to help said to him. "Who is the new medic?"

Brains who was putting the boxes in the back of the lorry didn't even look up because of the fact that he knew who he was on about anyway. "That is Molly Dawes, she was our medic when we first went in to Afghan"

"Is that...?"

"Yep, but I wouldn't actually say anything about that around them not sure just how much they have talked about it so it's probably best that you don't mention the fact that that was Captain James' wife"

"His wife?" Maisie raised an eyebrow and looked over at Molly who was checking things off on her clipboard before Maisie looked back over at the two guys who had been talking about the new medic. "So is this like a favourite thing or no?"

"Actually I think I mentioned that Molly was his ex wife and no it's probably not a favourite thing but with Georgie not going abroad then he probably had to improvise and now they have got a divorce it's probably easier to have her on the team but again don't mention it."

Maisie looked over at Molly and wondered what was so great about this woman, in the beginning she hadn't got on with Georgie and then they became some sort of friends and now there was a new medic and she had been hearing a lot about a Molly and if this is the woman that Captain James was married to then she wondered what was so great about her and why she would even be allowed to go with them now.

"Don't even thing about it" Brains said looking over at Maisie, it was like he could pretty much read her mind on what she was going to do and Molly didn't need that some sort of shit going on while they were on mission. Richards had already given Georgie a hard time in the beginning they didn't need her going after Molly too but Brains did have to admit that she would give as good as she got so if Maisie did go after her then god help the girl when Molly got hold of her back in the UK.

"I don't know what you're even talking about"

"You're thinking about giving her a bloody hard time and trust me we already gave her one in Afghan and it wasn't our proudest moment and she made sure she stuck it out and in the end she turned out to be one of the best damn medics we've ever seen"

"How did she prove herself?"

"She crawled on her stomach in a minefield to get one of our team members so if she can handle that then she's certainly going to handle you"

"Bloody privates" Maisie muttered, even though _she_ was a private too, but it was loud enough for Captain James to hear when he was standing behind them.

"Actually Richards she's a Lance Corporal and Brains is right, she will give as good as she gets so I wouldn't try it if I were you" he looked over at the other female on the team and then nudged his head towards the work "Carry on, we have only a bit of time to do this before we're heading out"

Molly wasn't deaf and she definitely wasn't stupid because she knew what they had been saying behind her back but it was something that she would rather not deal with right now. They had divorced and that had been that and now they were working together she hoped that it wouldn't actually be all that awkward for them. She wanted to get this mission done and give her work one hundred percent and then get back to the UK to do what she had been doing before.

She glanced over at the other girl on the team and knew that she would be getting trouble from her because it just seemed to radiate from her. Sierra Leone was going to be challenging enough without some gobby little mare coming at her. Molly shook her head and then ticked off the last item she had been looking at before she then called over to the guys who were loading the stuff in to the trucks. "Another one to go in"

The other supplies would already be at the plane waiting to be loading on, it was just the kit that they would need themselves that was being checked before they headed out.

"This one going in Molly?" Fingers pointed to the box that she had just finished.

"Yeah, thanks" she said and then nodded before she then looked at him properly "Are people talking about the divorce a lot here?"

Fingers was actually a little taken back by that because he was sure that he hadn't been talking about it with Mansfield but there had definitely been a bit of gossip that had gone through the lads especially when they found out that Molly was single once again. They hadn't seen her that much since her wedding actually mostly because of the fact that when Captain James was actually in the UK sometimes Molly had been on another mission and the other way around. "It's been talked about but after a while it became old news" he admitted.

"I hope so" Molly really didn't want this to be the talk of the whole mission, they had things to be doing and people to be saving and she wanted to keep their heads in the game rather than have them focusing on her love life which at the moment was none existant.

"Congratulations on the promotion by the way, you deserve it"

Molly smiled "Thanks, it was definitely something that I wanted" she definitely wanted this promotion. "If you could with that box, thanks Fingers" she smiled and watched as he picked the box up and took it over to the truck.

"Everything going alright?" Captain James came to her side after Fingers had walked away.

"Yep, just making sure we have everything and then we can put it in the truck and be heading on our way and you don't have to keep an eye on me all the time you know"

"I'm hoping that you will look after me Dawesy, you know I need someone to keep me in check"

Molly scoffed "I'm sure you have someone to do that for you, but I will crack the whip if you're getting out of hand"

"Oh please do!" He teased before he too walked away and Molly looked after him and sighed once more.

This was going to be a little bit harder than she thought because Charles definitely hadn't changed and if he was teasing her in this way then he thought she hadn't changed either and sometimes she thought so too but trying to keep a level head when it comes to her ex husband was going to be harder than she thought it was. Not because of the fact that she still felt something, that ship had probably sailed but she couldn't deny that she didn't sometimes think about him and now working with him again was just going to take her a bit of time to make sure that she didn't fall for him this time either.

That was going to be easier said than done. He was still a very hot man and he really did have a nice arse.

Molly rolled her eyes before she went back to her work.


	3. Chapter 3

If anyone thought that having both Molly and Maisie on the same team was going to be a walk in the park then really they were hoping for a miracle. Maybe it was because of the fact that they were sort of alike in attitude that they weren't going to get on at all.

After they made sure that they had everything that they would need they were off and if there was ever a moment that Molly wanted to sleep it was right now so that she wouldn't catch Maisie looking at her most of the way but she wasn't that lucky because she wasn't the type to actually fall asleep on the plane even when she wanted too.

Sometimes plane rides could drag and sometimes they literally flew passed; this was one of those dragging plane rides. Some people read, some listened to music and Molly was trying not to think of all the ways that she could actually kill Maisie right now. That didn't sound very good so in the end she ended up just shutting her eyes and having a little bit of time in her own mind.

So when they landed she was actually more than happy to get off the plane and away from Richards. This tour was going to be one of those that was hard. Molly had been on disaster relief tours before and they really don't get any easier especially with how much the people have suffered and the debris that was everywhere.

Molly grabbed her kit and then stood up from her seat, and just as she did Maisie walked passed muttering something to herself and if there was ever a moment when she wanted to sock the girl in the mouth then it would be now. She sighed and looked over to the side and saw Captain James and she gave him a slight smile before pushing everything away and heading off the plane.

She was here to help and not worry about what a single girl thought about her. If she worried about that then she wouldn't do anything and Molly refused to let Maisie ruin anything for her.

They stepped off the plane and the rest of their stuff was being loaded off the plane that had landed before they did. It meant that they would be able to get to work straight away once the supplies were loaded onto a transport.

Captain James was talking to someone and she looked around and wasn't really ready for anything that she would be seeing. Molly wasn't the sort of person that would run away from anything so whatever she saw here she would take in her stride and move passed because if a medic was to fall apart somewhere like this then they wouldn't be any good to their team and she didn't fall apart, well not on the ground anyway. Molly might do that when she got home but other than that they wouldn't see much emotions from her here.

"Okay guys, I've just been told that the water is receding so that is good but at the same time there is people who are desperate for anything they can get their hands on whether it be medicine," Captain James looked over at Molly who nodded and then carried on "or food or even somewhere to sleep so please be careful with all the kit" he knew that he didn't have to say this but at the same time he wanted to. "So please look after each other"

Molly could almost hear him saying those words that he would say to them in Afghan "Stay focused, stay alert, stay alive" she said and nodded to her Captain.

"Right" he smiled "Dawes, on me" he nudged his head towards a little way from the group.

"I'm sure she liked being there" Maisie spoke just as Molly stepped forward to follow after Captain James and she glanced over at Richards and for some reason right there she wanted to sock her once more. It was a feeling that she felt she would feel for the rest of the tour and was starting to wish that they had pushed her out of the plane on their way here.

"What was that Richards?" Captain James stopped and looked over at Maisie and was starting to feel annoyed. Maisie had been like this with Georgie in the beginning too and giving it the gobby talk but in the end she had calmed down but it seemed as soon as she saw Molly she started on her this time.

"Nothing, sir" she said and looked over at her Captain before looking over at Molly and nodded as if to say that she didn't mean anything by it but of course she did and Richards could tell that Molly knew she was lying.

"Dawes" He nudged his head in the direction of the way that he had been going before. "I know you don't want to hear this but I think putting you and Richards together will help calm her down" James knew he was going against his better judgement on this. He could see it in her face when she looked up at him.

"Or I might actually kill the cheeky little mare" Molly shook her head. "You didn't tell me that there was going to be another me on this tour"

"I didn't?" he asked innocently. "I knew that you wouldn't come with us if you knew about Richards"

"You're right there" Molly shook her head. "But I will try my hardest not to do anything to her just as long as she really doesn't push my buttons because you know that I like to push back"

Charles did know that and like he had said back at Brize; Molly could hold her own and would definitely give as good as she got mostly because of the fact that she had been doing that most of her life and didn't know any other way. Also she didn't have anything to prove to these guys because of the fact that they knew what Dawes could do, they knew her strength and she didn't go gobbing off in front of people.

Molly gave Charles a smile before she walked back over to the team and hated knowing that she would have to actually work with Maisie but she would do her hardest not to actually put her hand around the girls throat. Although at the moment she was losing that thought.

They got on the trucks and headed out of the airport but even they knew that they always had to be on their guard especially when there were people who liked to kill soldiers no matter what badge they wore on their shoulder. Molly was sat next to Fingers and had Brains on her other side and there were times when she would think about their first tour together and how everything felt pretty new back then, how Molly had felt like she was a failure when her training didn't kick in first time around but thankfully she had time to prove herself when it came to Smurf.

She still missed that guy.

They then came to the part where they would be helping out and it looked so bad that she felt a little bit overwhelmed just looking at the destruction. Of course Richards was the first person to actually speak.

"Oh god what is that smell?"

"Death, it's the smell of death" Molly had said instantly and glanced over at her. It was a smell that wasn't easily forgetten and after being in a few places like this she had become used to the smell even though she wished that she hadn't. They still had a job to do and that was helping the people that they could help and give food to those that needed it.

It was going to take a little time but they would make sure that people got what they needed and as long as Richards didn't prat around then she might actually learn something. Even though she was usually up the front driving, Maisie had been put in the back especially when Kingy, who Molly had been introduced to before getting on the plane, and Captain James were up the front and dumped the other female in the back with Molly.

The cries were a little deafening and Molly's heart went out to them because of the fact that she was pretty lucky when it came to where she lived. Nothing was every this bad in the UK and for that she was happy but at the same time it made her feel as if she wanted to share what she did have with the people here.

Captain James' voice came over the radio and it made her feel a little bit warm around the collar mostly because of the fact that she hadn't heard his voice in her ear for a very long time. "We're almost there so get ready"

They drove off to the side and stopped and they were here, the base they would be using while they were helping out. Tents had been set up and thankfully there were no water in this area so it meant that they could get stuck in to what they were helping with.

Molly walked over to the tent with the cross on it and knew that was where she should be, "Richards, with me" she called over to her and nudged her head in the direction of the tent and she walked over to Molly and they both walked into the hospital that had been set up and Molly looked around at the amount of people were here and it made her heart pound hard in her chest.

"Let's get to work, Richards" Molly said and then looked for the doctor in charge to tell them that they were here and ready to help out. Maisie didn't like being told what to do but she followed anyway.

This felt like it was going to be a long tour in Sierra Leone and they had just got here and one thing was for sure.. Molly and Maisie wasn't going to get on at all.


	4. Chapter 4

Molly got stuck as soon as she went in the tent and much to Maisie's chagrin she helped out with getting whatever the medic needed and muttered under her breath while doing it. At one point Molly was sure that she could pretty much put her hands around the girls throat and tell her to keep her thoughts to herself right now.

It actually made Molly feel a bit embarrassed to have someone show her up in front of people that were actually trying to do their own saving and sadly it looked as if they couldn't save some people.

They stayed at the small camp for a while and it was actually almost dark before they left for their own base but Molly had wanted to stay at the camp just in case but she knew that if she stayed then the others would stay and most of them looked as if they could do with a good nights kip. She wanted to be away from Richards too and maybe putting some distance between them at their own base might be the only way she could do that.

Thankfully their tents were already put up and Molly put her stuff in tent that she guessed was hers and that's where she found the two beds and being the only two females on the team meant that they were going to have to share a tent. Like Captain James had said, stags only. Not only that she had all the medical equipment with her so she would have to have somewhere of her own but to know that she wasn't going to be getting rid of Richards right now was the worst feeling in the world especially when all she wanted was to fall face down on her camp bed. Saying that knowing her luck she would fall through the camp bed and on to the ground.

It seemed as if Maisie wasn't all that happy that they had to share either yet all Molly wanted to know was what the hell she had actually done for the other woman on the team to dislike her so much. Well she knew this time that she hadn't slept with Richards so it can't be anything to do with that but at the same time she wanted to get this tour done and then maybe she wouldn't have to see Maisie Richards again.

Maybe Smurf was right; maybe they would meet up again because that was the Army for you.

Molly could hear the guys talking outside and she was sat on her bed before she ran her hands over her face. Being back with 2 Section felt a little strange because a lot has happened since they all were in Afghan together. The last thing she had expected was for her ex husband to come and ask for her assistance but that might be because she hadn't expected to have an _ex_ husband. Molly had thought that they would be married for the rest of their lives but that hadn't worked out as well as she had hoped.

Maybe it was the tiredness that was making her think all about this again or it could be down to the fact that she looked at Captain James and catch him looking at her like he was having regrets. He might do but what would Charles say if he knew about _him_.

"You not hungry, Dawesy?" Fingers called to her from his seat.

"A little bit exhausted right now, Fingers" she admitted before getting up from her bed to put her kit on the floor and unroll her sleeping bag.

Exhaustion wouldn't stop her from eating though because once she moved the sleeping bag in to position she headed out of the tent and over to where the others were sitting. Molly took a seat next to Brains.

"So did you miss us then, Dawesy?" Mansfield asked just before her put some food in to his trap.

Molly watched him chew and then she said "Missed any of you lot? Not a single bit"

"That's charming" Mansfield said and then grinned before turning to look at Maisie "My mum says I look like Prince Harry"

A laugh ran through the team and honestly Molly felt like she was home again, this was the team that she belonged on. These were _her_ boys. Mansfield with his desperate need to tell everyone that his mum thinks he looks like Prince Harry, Brains and his cheeky ways and Fingers well the way that he always teases you no matter what. This was what she missed when she was with the other soldiers and Sections that she had been with.

"How is Meghan anyway?" Brains asked and looked over at Mansfield and Molly snorted.

"I was actually going to ask about Prince Andrew..." Fingers spoke over at Brains who grinned back at Fingers and they both then looked over at Mansfield.

"I have no idea who that actually is..."

"That's Fergie's ex husband"

"Ah, the female ginger one again" Mansfield muttered and then turned to look at Captain James when he joined them at the fire. "Do you think I look like Harry, Bossman?"

"No, I honestly don't Mansfield" Captain James blinked at him and then a smile pulled at his lips.

Another laugh sounded around the team and Molly was about to take a bite of her food when that happened and had to put her fork back into the rations pack just so that she wouldn't choke on her food. The last thing they needed was a medic that choked on their food.

"Oh Mansfield you just got owned" Maisie said and nudged him.

"Owned? What are you twelve?" Molly asked and raised an eyebrow at Maisie and then really wondered if _she_ was secretly twelve.

That definitely didn't go down right because Maisie looked over at Molly and the two of them held the gaze, if the guys didn't feel the tension before then they did this time around only because of the stare that seemed to get heavier as the time went on. Maybe Molly was in the wrong this time or maybe they shouldn't have put two females with pretty much the same personalities on the same team; let alone the same tent.

Molly finally looked away and then she looked down at her rations and chewed on her lip for a moment before she cleared her throat and then stood up. "I'll see you in the morning, guys" she smiled at the guys, her eyes landing on Captain James last before she moved away from the rest of the team and in the direction of her tent. She wanted to make sure that she was actually in bed before mouthy madam turned in.

She sat down on her bed once more and started to move the fork around in her rations pack and knew she shouldn't have stooped down to Richards' level but it had just been one of those moments when everything about Maisie annoyed her especially her attitude to everything. Molly was actually tempted to ring Georgie and find out just what the hell she had done to control Maisie.

Molly finished up her food before she got up from the camp bed and walked over to shut the front of the tent down and just as she was about to she came face to face with Captain James and she sighed.

"You're still short, Dawes" he teased softly and reached up to grab hold of the flap and then shut it down but not before he walked in to the tent.

"In temper and height clearly" she pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment before she then let her hand relax down at her side. "I've only been with her for one day and she's already started to get on my last nerve and I'm not sure just how to deal with her"

"I honestly wish I had some words that would help deal with Maisie Richards but it seems like she gives everyone attitude, I was hoping that she had calmed down with Georgie but clearly she likes to annoy every medic that she comes across"

"Or maybe she likes you and doesn't like the sound of your ex wife in the section" Molly teased back at him and then smiled before looking down.

Charles looked at her for a moment, watching as she looked down at the ground and still thought that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Molly didn't need to hear that right now especially when they all had a job to do. "Actually I think she's dating Rab, you haven't met him yet but I'm sure you will if you go on another tour with us"

Molly wasn't sure if she would go on another tour with 2-Section but she didn't say that because she didn't want to hurt him. Now wasn't the time to hurt anyone.

Charles cleared his throat and then stood straight "Get some sleep, Dawes, it's going to be another long day tomorrow" he smiled to her and then nodded. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip before he pushed the flap open and walked out. He took a deep breath of fresh air as he was feeling like he had just broken through water and hadn't had a breath in a while.

He saw that a couple of the guys had moved from their spots and no doubt was hitting their pit but Monk, Fingers and Richards were still sitting outside and Captain James headed towards his own tent.

"Do you think they will get back together?" Monk asked Fingers and turned in his seat so that he was looking forward once more.

"No idea" Fingers admitted and then shrugged a shoulder. It was going to be an interesting tour though if those two were going to be making eyes at each other.

Charles sat down on his own bed and sighed before running his hands over his face. He was acting like an idiot and Molly didn't need that right now. The conversation that he had had with Elvis was running around in his mind and was going to blame him for the idea of how to get Molly back, even though it had been Charles' in the first place.

 **-FLASHBACK-**

 _"So let me get this straight, you're going to ask Molly to go on a tour with you just to get her back?" Elvis asked as he leaned back in his seat and raised an eyebrow._

 _"Well when you say it like that it makes me think that the idea is pretty daft and I really didn't need that right now, I'm not the daft one remember"_

 _"I don't know Charlie, you are looking daft these days" Elvis grinned at him and grabbed his cup before taking a drink of tea. He put the cup back down and spoke again "Are you sure that you want to do this? I mean you and Molly got a divorce a while ago and have you heard from her?"_

 _Charles shook his head, he hadn't heard anything from Molly in a while but if there was a person who would tell him straight then it was Elvis. That guy had won back Georgie after all and looked pretty happy now; Charles wanted Molly back in his life and for her to be his wife again._

 _"What makes you think that she hasn't got anyone? Maybe she's moved on and is happy without you"_

 _Charles didn't even think of that, didn't think that maybe Molly had someone else. What if she did? What if Molly was now someone's girlfriend? Someone elses love? He wasn't sure that he could deal with that. "Has she said anything to Georgie?"_

 _Elvis shook his head. "Georgie doesn't tell me anything when it comes to Molly mostly because she doesn't want you to find out and she knows I would tell you anything but this is something I don't know" Elvis really would've told Charlie by now if Molly had someone else. She did have a Facebook account and sometimes she would come up with a new profile picture but there wasn't anything on her relationship status._

 _There was silence between the two of them for a moment as they both took a drink of their teas before Elvis then said. "If it's what you want to do then go for it, just be careful not to get your heart broke again"_

 **-End of FLASHBACK-**

Charles had to put all of that to the side right now because they needed to concentrate on the tour they were on but just having Molly in front of him was hard especially when he wanted to reach out for her and he knew that he was probably sounded like a lovesick puppy but he just wanted his Molly back.

Molly had watched the entrance that Charles had disappeared out of and sighed again before shaking her head. She quickly stripped down and got in her sleeping bag, putting her arm behind her head she looked up at the top of the tent and wondered just what was going to come from this tour.

It was nice to feel part of the gang again and it was definitely nice to have Charles tease her in the way that he used to do when they were married. Molly shut her eyes and tuned out the noises from outside; just wanting to sleep so that she could get this day over and done with.

That night Molly dreamed of those gorgeous brown eyes of the man who was a few tents down.

She didn't even hear when Maisie came in to the tent. They might not get on but Maisie respected when someone was sleeping even if it was _Molly._


	5. Chapter 5

The next day saw Molly and the team back helping out especially with the new medical patients coming in. When Molly was working there was nothing ever on her mind because she wanted to put all of her focus on the task in hand. So whatever she had been thinking at the camp this morning had been pushed out of her head.

Maisie had the bigger problem of everything because of the fact that the medic would having her doing this or that. It was the tone of her voice, hell her _voice_ , that annoyed her and it didn't seem to get any better. She walked out of the tent when one of the lads were walking passed.

"Your medic is the biggest pain in my ass" she spoke to Brains but she figured that she was talking to the wrong person because it seemed like he loved Molly. Like the woman could do no wrong.

"I think you'll find that she's _our_ medic and by comparing her to Georgie really won't help your case because they are both different people, you joined the section when Georgie was here but we were here from the beginning and both medics have different personalities and different ways of doing things, just stopping bitching at her and get the job done, Richards" Brains sighed and then went on to say "You gave Georgie a hard time and doing the same with Molly will only end badly for you especially if anyone higher up hears that you like to give medic's a hard time" he left it at that and went back to what he was actually doing in the beginning.

Maisie hadn't expected that and her mouth dropped before she headed back in to the tent.

"What was that about?" Fingers asked Brains and nudged his head in the direction of the tent that he had just passed and indicating Maisie who was now walking back in.

"Complaining as usual but I'm pretty sure that she will get Molly's right hook if she's not careful"

"I'm sure Molly has calmed down a lot in the years that we've known her" Fingers remembered that they had given her a hard time in the beginning but she proved that she was no push-over and risked her life by getting Smurf out of that minefield.

"Maisie will keep pushing the buttons but we will have to see just how Molly reacts" Brains patted Fingers on the shoulder before he went back to his work.

Fingers looked over at the medical tent and sighed under his breath; he just wished that Richards would stop giving their medics a hard time but not every woman needed a man fighting for them and Molly was definitely one of those women who liked to do things herself. She was independent like that.

"Did you get what I asked?" Molly looked up at Maisie when she came back in the tent and it was clear that she hadn't got what Molly asked and honestly she was at her last nerve with Maisie. Today was hard enough without a girl pushing every one of Molly's nerves in to overdrive.

"What do you think I am? I don't get your stuff so why don't you get off my back!" Maisie stormed out of the tent and didn't see the look of anger on Molly's face.

Molly stitched up the cut on the guys arm before she let one of the other medic's take over and then she left the tent to go and find Maisie because there was no way in hell she was going to let that _girl_ talk to her like that. When she found Maisie she started heading for her "Oi!" Molly said angrily

"Oh don't start" Maisie looked over at Molly and then stopped what she was doing. "I don't need you on my back anymore than I need anything else"

"What the hell was that about? You _don't_ have a go at anyone in front people that are trying to get medical help, I don't know what Georgie taught you or what she done if you did this but I am not Georgie. She might take the crap from you but I'm not going to"

"No, you're right you're _not_ Georgie, you're the bosses ex wife and now I can see why he actually thought to include you, probably wants to get you back in the sack but I won't take any shit from you"

Molly scoffed and shook her head, this fucking girl was pushing her passed the norm and she wanted to slap her gobby mouth but at the same time she wouldn't do that in front anyone. "We are here to work and help people out not gob off in front of them and you don't speak to me like that do you understand?"

But before Maisie could actually answer a call went up in the shape of someone calling for a medic. Molly looked over in the direction of where the call had come from, she then turned to look at Maisie "Get my bag" she said and pointed to the medical tent before she went running off in the direction of the guard.

The problem with this place was that it was open and they needed a guard on the medical tent at all times to make sure that none of the kit got nicked. Like Captain James had said everyone was desperate and if they weren't getting the medical attention that quickly then they would take matters in to their own hands.

When Molly got to the guard and the man on the ground she quickly put her gloves on that she had pulled from her pocket and started to check the man on the ground but... there wasn't anything wrong with him. In fact he was actually alive. She felt a gun poke into her stomach and she brought her eyes up to look at the man standing over her but also the man that was on the ground and there were grins pulling at their mouths.

They had caught themselves a medic and all she could think was: _Don't let me die here, let me get back home to him._

Maisie ran out of the tent with the bag and started to run in the direction of where she had seen the medic go.

"What's going on Maisie?" Brains asked as he caught up with her. "You running away with Molly's bag?"

"She needs it, come on you can help seeing as you're not doing anything.. FINGERS COME ON" she called behind her but as they got closer to where Molly had been or at least the direction that she had gone in they found that it was empty. That Molly wasn't there and there didn't seem to be anyone there at all.

Both Brains and Fingers started looking around and in unison they called Molly's name. They looked in different places around where Maisie had said she was or at least indicated where Molly would be and they couldn't find her at all. This definitely wasn't good at all.

Fingers walked over to Maisie "Are you sure that she came this way? That she wanted the bag? And you're not just pulling our legs?"

"No, Fingers, I swear that she wanted her bag because a guard had called her over so she came in this direction"

"Why did you let her go alone, Richards?" Fingers said angrily.

"Molly told me to get her bag from the tent, I didn't let her go alone she told me to do something and I did it for once, you guys should be looking after her too but you're to busy piss-assing about and now you're blaming all of this on me"

Brains sighed "Someone is going to have to tell Bossman" he looked over at the two who were standing there arguing. They needed to get someone out there looking for her. They needed to get Molly back right now.

That was one conversation that wasn't going to go down well at all especially seeing as Captain James still had a soft spot for Molly and now she was gone he would move heaven and hell just to get her back. They all walked from the spot relunctantly because they didn't want to leave Molly behind but she wasn't here. She wasn't anywhere right now and there was more than one way out of this place and it felt like that they wouldn't have known if Richards hadn't had gone for the bag.

Fingers found Captain James and pulled him to one said. Maisie and Brains watched as his features changed and then he started to give orders about looking for her. They needed to find her.

"What is going on?" one of the helpers asked as they came out of the tent and saw the activity that was going on.

"Our medic is missing, she went to help someone and now she's gone" Brains answered but didn't look up, instead he was putting his helmet on as they were moving out to look for Molly, there was no way that they were going to let her go missing and not go looking for her. They did for Georgie and they will for Molly and they will do it for any one of them that went missing.

"You sure she didn't just get up and leave on her own?"

"You don't know her, she would _never_ do that, so while you're disrespecting our medic we're going to look for her" Brains snapped.

"Lets go mate" Monk pushed him away from the helper and in the direction of where they would be starting their proper search.

-.-

2-Section searched for Molly everywhere they could get to but there wasn't any sign of her. It was literally like she had vanished and with every lack of sighting for her Captain James was starting to unravel because he had brought Molly here and she had now disappeared and because of the fact that she was also his ex wife. He still loved Molly and he didn't want to imagine anything happening to her.

It felt like he kept losing his medics on every tour they went on and now his ex wife was missing and he felt anger at himself for letting her go alone to that bloody guard who was now starting to feel like a fraud.

Captain James got on the wire straight to London and told them about Molly and they said that they would notify her parents and that filled him with dread too. Someone knocking on Belinda and Dave's door to tell them that their daughter was missing. He would rather have done it himself but he was here feeling complately useless because the one woman he loved more than anything was gone... again.

The team was starting to feel the anger inside of themselves too. They had searched for hours for Molly and nothing, they couldn't even find any trace of her. Fingers was sat with his head in his hands, his fingers going through his short hair and Brains had his hands together at his mouth with his elbows on his thighs.

"Won't they have to call in Special Forces?" Maisie asked after a quiet moment and looked towards the others. "It could be Elvis again..."

"He's doing SAS selection training back in Hereford, it won't be him. Like Georgie he promised to be stationed in the UK," Brains spoke quietly and looked over at Maisie. "No, it'll be someone else"

Maisie looked over at Captain James who was on the phone again but this time it looked like he was losing his cool. "He's unravelling" she muttered and nudged her head in the direction of where Captain James was by the jeep.

"You can't blame him," Monk replied after a moment "Molly was his ex wife, just because they split and got a divorce it doesn't mean that he doesn't care about her still; anyone would probably be going out of their head."

-.-

She slowly started to come around, there was a pain in her head and she slowly reached up to where the pain was and put her hand against the spot but when Molly pulled her hand away she expected blood but there wasn't anything. She remembered getting a hit over the head and actually thought maybe the blow had been that bad that they might've caused it to bleed but there wasn't anything.

Molly sat up and found that she was in a small room, her back hit the wall... no not a room.. a cage. She was in a cage and before she even had been taken she knew it was for nothing good and this just confirmed her thought. Molly tried to stand up but her head felt a bit heavy so she just stayed sitting. There was a noise to her right and she looked in that direction but it was either a little dark or her eyesight was still affected by the hit.

"Hello.." She called out and moved closer to her right to the side of the cage. "Is there anyone there"

But silence hit her again and for the first time in a very long time she actually felt like pulling her legs up to her chest and holding on to herself so that she could try. Molly didn't know where she was, didn't know whether the guys would be able to find her in time before anything happened and she was frightened that she would never go home to see _him_ again.

Molly didn't want to die here, not here of all places. She didn't want this to be the last place that she ever saw.

Strands of her dark hair was falling out of her braid and down her face, it even tickled her neck. She ran her hands down herself and found that she was still in her uniform. Molly still had her Army uniform on.

That was good. She thinks it is anyway. Or it could be very very bad. Either way something told her that she wouldn't be getting out of this place for a while...

If ever.


	6. Chapter 6

Molly couldn't tell how long she had been there, it felt like hours but knowing her luck it was probably minutes. She couldn't even tell if it was day or night, the room was in complete darkness and if she was a cat then she might've been able to see in the dark but she wasn't and she definitely hadn't been eating her carrots so that ruled that out.

There was another noise to her right and she moved a little closer to the bars of the cage to see if she could see anything but she couldn't see a thing. "Hello.." she tried again and swallowed hard. Molly knew that she wasn't alone but it was just proving that especially when the person in the other cage, or what she assumed was another cage, wouldn't speak to her.

There was silence once more and she leaned her head against the bars and closed her eyes. No doubt by now Charles would have everyone looking for her, if there was one person who would move heaven and hell to find someone it would be him. Molly just wanted to get back in one piece.

The last thing she wouldn't do was breakdown because then it would be like these assholes had won. They would be out there looking for her that she did believe. They would come for her and she would be able to go home. Molly had family that would be waiting for her when she got home.

There was another lot of movement and Molly looked in that direction but she didn't move, instead she kept her head against the bars of the cage but her eyes were definitely looking in to the one next to her. "Hello," she tried again "I know that you are there, I can hear you moving around" there was a desperation to her voice as if it was saying _please, i don't want to be alone here._

Finally someone came to the bar and she could see dark eyes and Molly sat up a lot better before she tried to reach out of the bars towards the other woman but she couldn't. There was a sigh of relief from Molly that she was in fact not alone in here. "What's your name, I'm Molly"

The woman on the other side moved away for a moment because she didn't want to get caught talking to the other person but she slowly moved back to the bars, in fact she actually moved a little bit closer so that she could see the other person a bit more better. The other woman said her name -Molly- and that made her smile a little bit. She once had a friend called Molly back in Liverpool..."Sandra... my name is Sandra"

Molly could hear an accent to it and she knew it because she heard it everytime Brains spoke.. Sandra was a Scouser. She was another Brit and that made her feel a lot better to know that she would be able to talk to her and know that what they both missed was home. "How long have you been here Sandra?"

"I don't know, It feels like days. I was helping with the floods and then I woke up here" Sandra swallowed hard, her throat was dry and she wanted a drink but they only got drinks at certain times of the day. "I heard them bringing you in so I know that you're new here"

"Do you know where we are?" Molly asks Sandra.

"No, I don't even know how I got here"

Molly's head was aching and she wanted nothing more than to have someone look to see if there was actually a cut on her head but if she had been out for hours then it's more than likely that she would've stopped bleeding by now. She felt at the back of her head once more but found that her hair wasn't sticking together so maybe there wasn't a cut there? Who knows but either way her head was bloody aching and she wanted to take something for it.

"We're not going to get out of here are we?" Sandra asked after a moment.

"What makes you say that?"

"There was someone else in the cage before you but they took her out yesterday and so far she hasn't come back so I don't know what they are going to do with us but whatever it is it can't be good"

Molly wanted to tell Sandra about her ex husband, the man she knew who wouldn't leave her behind no matter how long it took to find her; Charles would find her in the end and he would get her out of here. But how could she explain just what happened between herself and Charles? How could she tell her everything? Sandra was a stranger and they say that sometimes it's easier to talk to a stranger but for now she was just going to keep it simple. "We will get out of here, I promise"

"How can you be so sure though?"

"Because I have faith that we will end up getting back home" Molly leaned her forehead against the bars.

Because she had to get home. She had to get back to the UK for her family sake and for her own.

She moved her legs up to her chest and put her arms around her knees, her back leaning against the bars. Molly's head was pounding and she wished that she had something to take for it but knowing her luck she had a concussion. No one should end up in this situation when they are just trying to help people rebuild or help giving them medical aid.

Molly heard Sandra moving closer to the bars too and maybe if they could keep as close as they could then maybe things wouldn't be so bad because it would mean that they would have each other.

Silence hit once more and Molly's eyes started to get heavy but she wasn't sure if that was down to the fact that she was tired or whether she wanted to give her head a bit of a break but either way she was going to close her eyes for a little bit.

"Molly..." Sandra spoke to the other woman that was in the cage next to her.

"Yeah?"

"I know that this might sound selfish but I'm glad I'm not here on my own, I don't think I could go through it alone" Sandra admitted and she knew there were fear in her voice because she could hear it herself. The fear of being in this room on her own without anyone knowing she was here and if anything happened to her then she would know that Molly would do everything she could to get the information to her family back home.

"It doesn't sound selfish, I'm glad I have someone here too" Molly knew that she would likely go crazy if it was just her here on her own. She would go crazy at the sound of her own voice and the silence that would follow. She would go crazy knowing that there wasn't anyone on the other side of the cage. So she understands how Sandra feels right now.

"Try and get some sleep, Molly..."

"You too"

Sandra put her back against the cage bars too and leaned her head back. She didn't know what happened to the other woman that had been there but whatever it was it wasn't good because why would they want to take only British women? Why would they want to keep them in the cages like they do? Sandra wasn't sure but if Molly was right then they wouldn't have to worry about it for long; if Molly was right then they would be coming for them. They just had to bide their time... but sadly in the end time wasn't somethin they had a lot of.

Molly closed her eyes back up thinking the same thing... they didn't have much time to wait and see if anyone would come and find them, they had to maybe save themselves which was a little bit hard when it was dark in here and she wasn't sure what they could use to open the locks but she would make sure that both of them got out alive. There was no way that Molly would be leaving Sandra behind.

-.-

"Listen up guys," Captain James looked around at the faces of the others in 2-Section. "so Special Forces are enroute but because of the fact that I have a personal connection to Mol -the primary- I have been advised to let someone else take over so Kingy will be in charge" he looked over at Kingy and nodded before he stepped out of the way. He didn't like it, didn't like not being in front on this but he could understand.

"As Captain James has said Special Forces are enroute to begin their search for the primary and we will be their back-up should they need it; now," he looked over at Captain James for a moment who nodded, urging him to carry on. "this is going to be a tough search especially with the fact that they are trying to overcome the flooding but we will get the primary back"

"Kingy, do they have any idea where to start searching?" Brains asked and looked between Captain James and Kingy.

"We will get more information on that when they arrive"

Charles really wanted to find Molly now, he wanted to go out tonight and search for her all night if he has to but he knows that they had to be smart about this and thinking like that would only get people hurt but this was Molly. This was _his_ Molly. The woman that he had married; the medic that he had learned a great deal from.

He didn't want to think of her hurt or anything else because he was sure that he couldn't bear it if anything bad had happened but when they didn't even know where to look then it was really a race against time. There wasn't any video, yet, that would point to their demands. It made it look as if this wasn't any terrorist related and sometimes that was the worst kind because at least with a terrorist it was all the predictable terms but when there wasn't a video, when there wasn't demands... all of it was unpredictable and Charles had to keep it together.

Maybe it was a good thing that he wasn't leading the team this time because he wasn't sure he could keep his head clear when it comes to Molly and that is probably why they didn't let spouses work together.

"We'll get the primary back Boss, you can be sure of that" Fingers spoke to Captain James and nodded as if that confirmed everything.

They _were_ going to get Molly back, even if they had to search for her for a long time. There was no way in hell they were leaving her behind here.

-.-

And where Molly was being held she had the same thought.. They were going to find her. She believed that much. Molly knew that Charles wouldn't give up on her. He would accept that she was gone, _lost_ , like all the other people that had gone missing. They got their people back and they were going to make sure that Molly got back too.


	7. Chapter 7

Charles looked up at the helicopter as it slowly started to land and wondered just who would be on there this time around. The last time he had seen Elvis he had been on one of those things but he chewed on the inside of his lip and couldn't help but look around for something to do. He had to admit that it was killing him not being able to lead this search with the captain of the Special Forces.

He watched them get off and rather than the usual four man team this time it was five and it was actually nice to see the guys that had been under Elvis' leadership but now... "Oh for fuck sake" Charles grumbled and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling of the small building they were in.

He swore that someone was trying to test him on this.

First it had been Elvis with Georgie and now it was fucking Bones. He was now starting to be thankful that he didn't actually have to deal with that asshole.. but in the end he had to admit that the guy did get things done.

"King, nice to see you again" he said with a smile before getting the folder that was usually handed over to them when they got somewhere.

"No Captain James this time?" Bones looked around, the guy was a prick, but he liked to piss him off all the same.

"Not this time, I'll be taking over as leader on this one" Kingy replied.

"Well needs must and all that" he then handed the envelopes to the other guys and then opened his own and looked down at the information. Bones moved his eyes away from the name quickly and looked at the picture and his heart was in his throat for a moment and he felt like he was suddenly not in Sierra Leone but back in the UK; a laugh filled his ears and he swallowed hard.

No one knew, they never told anyone and it sadly didn't last long because it suddenly came to an end. Bones never found out why; he did actually keep trying to ring her for a while after but she would never pick his calls up and no matter what he tried she just wouldn't answer him. In the end he sadly just gave up and now here he was standing with the picture in his hand.

Suddenly he knew how Elvis had felt when he held on to the paper that said Georgie was missing.

He looked up from the paper and in the direction of where Captain James was standing in the small building and he wasn't sure if their eyes actually met for a second but for some reason he could feel him judging Bones. Bones was never like this, he never let anything like this get in the way before and he wasn't going to now.

Bones cleared his throat and turned to look at the others "Our primary boys, we're going to bring her home" he said that as a certain thing. Even if it turned out that Molly -the primary- wasn't alive they would bring her home. They weren't leaving her here.

Bones turned to Kingy and then said "2-Section will be in back up" he grabbed his bag off the ground, like the others did, and walked with Kingy to the small building.

"Captain James" Bones said and put his bags down on the ground.

"Captain McClyde" Charles spoke politely, he still didn't like the guy but if he was going to be bringing Molly back then he would be as polite as he could be.

"What is it with you and losing your medics?" Bones asked and raised an eyebrow but rather than letting Captain James actually answer he turned to Kingy. He never let on that saying that had hurt him as much as it had hurt Captain James to hear. He just liked having a dig at the dickhead Captain.

Captain James had to put his hands in to his pockets to stop himself from hitting the guy, he shook his head before he moved away from the building they were in. He had to be away from the area even though everything in him was screaming to stay because of it being Molly.

"So the primary was going to help someone and when the others got there they were gone?" Bones asked and looked over at Kingy. "Well they are taking a very big risk by taking someone who is a soldier, either that or they are very fucking stupid because they got to know that you will look for them"

"It's probably the latter but the thing is that we have another female on our team and if they've taken the primary then we will have to make sure we keep an eye on this one" Kingy then nudged his head in the direction of Richards who was talking with Monk.

"Sounds a little bit lively" Bones muttered.

"You have no idea" Kingy commented and then dropped his eyes down to the map that was on the table.

While the others were doing their work Bones picked up the information on Molly and chewed on the inner bit of his lip, his eyes moved to the picture. He had been a fucking idiot getting involved with another soldier but when that said soldier gave him a run for his money in attitude he did actually have to talk to her.

"King, why isn't Captain James running this?" Bones asked but kept his eyes on the picture.

Kingy sighed before he looked over at Bones "Because the primary is his ex wife"

Bones felt that like a kick in the balls. Well that is definitely something he hadn't actually expected. He looked up from the picture and over to where Captain James was talking to the rest of 2-Section and for a moment he clenched his jaw out of anger; Molly had been married to the guy that he still hated? Well that definitely hadn't been something that he had expected.

"Bit daring isn't it?" He asked Kingy before moving his eyes to look at the man on his right side. Kingy shrugged a little before he went back to the map.

"I think I got something" Peanut said over his shoulder. "It might be that the primary isn't the first to go missing like this" he came over to where Kingy and Bones was standing. "It says here that twelve British women have disappeared from here in the last three months and if that is the case why the hell did they even allow you guys to bring women here in the first place?" Peanut asked Kingy before handing the information over to Bones.

"The question is, what the hell do they do with the females?" Bones asked and looked over at Peanut. "Well if this is the case then you're going to have to keep the other female away from any of this because..." he then came up with an idea and it was a very bad one. It could be very dangerous for the other female.

"Because?" Kingy asked after a moment.

"Well scratch that we could use her as bait... give the female-"

"Richards"

"Give Richards a tracker and see if they pick her up, we could follow that tracker and it could lead us to the primary"

"Absolutely not" Kingy shook his head. "You are talking about sending a young woman into a snakes pit with no back up and no way out and who is to say that they will put her with the primary?"

"We would be with her every step of the way, we would make sure that she is as safe as she can be and will get her out as soon as she has located the primary"

"No" Kingy spoke adamantly that there was no way in hell Maisie Richards was going to go undercover.

"Do you want your medic back, Sergeant?"

"Yes but not this way, we're not going to send another female in because this is too dangerous. Find another way, Captain" Kingy spoke through his teeth, his anger was trying so hard not to flare up but it was hard especially when this asshole was on about sending in another female. Who knows what goes on in there?

"I agree, sir" Peanut said and looked over at Bones. "Richards is inexperienced and if we lose her then we're looking for two primary's in two different locations, we can't risk it and who's to say they would be stupid enough to take from them the section again?"

"Because they're idiots who took from the section the first time" Bones replied. "They have got to have known that the primary was a soldier so why would they be so stupid to do it in the first place?"

Nothing was adding up, if twelve women have gone missing then why haven't Special Forces been called in before with this? Where the hell do these women go? And why would they be so stupid to take from the Army knowing full well that someone would go looking for the primary?

Bones hated not knowing but when this was actually about someone he had cared about then he was going to make sure that he found Molly, he was going to make sure that he brought her back one way or another and he wasn't going to stop looking for her until then.

"Peanut, who was the last female that went missing before our primary?" Bones asked.

"Uh," he said and looked down the list that he had given Bones but since had taken back after the Captain had looked through it. "Sandra Lansdowne, she was an Aid worker, she's from Liverpool and is twenty-five"

"What about the others? The names and the ages, please"

"Tracey Sanders, twenty-four. Maria Marsh, twenty-five. Francesca Michaels, twenty-three.." Peanut was cut off when Bones saw the pattern.

"They're all British women in their twenties, maybe the right age to be selling off to other men.." Bones was just guessing on that bit but if that was the case then they didn't have a lot of time to find these women, if they could be found.

"Well if that's the case then maybe we could get a male in there undercover.." Kingy suggested and looked over at Bones. "It might be a lot safer for a male than for Richards to go in there"

"Actually that might be the better idea but we still have to find the fuckers that took these women before we can do anything, so we best get on that, so guys find us a way in" he said to his team and to Kingy.

The others went about their jobs and Bones looked at the picture once more and muttered quietly to himself "We're coming for you Molly"

-.-

Molly wasn't sure what was going to happen or what actually happened to the females that had used these cages before but whatever happened she didn't want to end up like that. She wanted to be able to go home to her family and not end up in someone elses country away from her section.

Those boys must be going out of their nut with worry and if she's being honest then she's worried too that she wouldn't get back to them or even get back home. Molly needed to get back home, she just had to.

"Do you have anyone, Sandra?" Molly asked "Anyone missing you back home?"

"Parents, sisters but no boyfriend, I did have one when I was twenty and it lasted for about three years" Sandra scoffed softly.

"What happened?" Molly asked and turned her head slightly but all she could really see was bars, bars and more sodding bars. What she would do for some light in here right now. Hell she would pretty much kill for some food and drink.

"We moved in together, I loved him but then I found him in bed with another girl and not just any girl but my best friend" she muttered but it was loud enough for Molly to make out. "I haven't dated since, in fact I came out here to help so that my parents wouldn't set me up with some nice lawyer"

Molly smiled slightly to herself, she didn't have hopes hell of finding a lawyer but she could just imagine Sandra's mother telling her about the young lawyer. "You don't want to shut yourself away from loving again just because some twat broke your heart, you're stronger than that"

Sandra smiled to herself. "What about you? You have anyone back home?"

Molly opened her mouth and just as she did the door of where they were being kept opened up and she heard the footsteps of two people coming down some stairs. She tried to stand up but couldn't so she moved away from where she was sitting "Move away from the cage door, Sandra" she said to the woman in the next cage and listened as she moved away the same as Molly did.

The footsteps were getting closer.

Closer.

Closer.

The cage door then opened up...


	8. Chapter 8

The cage door had opened and then out of nowhere there was a bright light; a torch was shining in her face. Molly brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the light and then suddenly the light was getting lower as if the person holding it was bending.

"Food. Eat" the voice said and then shut the cage door back up.

The light was out but then she caught a glimpse of Sandra and she was blonde, pretty, young.

"What are you going to do with us?" Molly called out to the person who was putting the food in to Sandra's cage. "Why are you doing this?" She asked, but got no reply. The guy walked away after shutting Sandra's cage up and his footsteps were getting further and further away until the door shut.

They were alone once more.

Molly's stomach growled and she knew that she was hungry, so she sighed and then patted the floor to see where the food was, sadly they weren't stupid enough to give them any cutlery but they had food so in the end they could actually eat. Whatever it was they wanted them for they were going to make sure they were fed for whatever it is.

Both women ate the food that they were given.

They were eating in silence.

-.-

A little while later Sandra was back at the cage bars this time she was leaning her side and her head against the bars, it was the most uncomfortable thing to do but it meant that she wasn't alone; not with Molly on the other side.

Molly reached into her pocket and even though it was the most reckless thing she could ever do, she pulled out a picture. It was dark where they were but she had looked at the picture so many times that she knew it like the back of her hand. Right now she just wanted to hold on to it in her hand because she wanted more than anything to go home to him.

"You never did tell me" Sandra spoke after a while and looked in the direction of the cage that Molly was in.

"Tell you what?" She asked. Molly wasn't sure what she hadn't told her but whatever it was she had definitely forgot about it.

"Whether you have someone at home"

Oh _that_ was what she had forgotten about. Well she hadn't said anything because of the fact that the cage door was being opened and the last thing she wanted to do was let them know something even though she had the picture in her hand; with that thought in her head she put the picture back in to her pocket and leaned her head against the cage bars.

"If by someone you mean do I have a husband or boyfriend then no" she admitted, "I did have both at one point, not at the same time of course"

"What happened?"

"We got a divorce a year and a half ago" Molly said keeping it somewhat light.

"And the boyfriend?"

Molly tried not to think about what _really_ happened between herself and Bones. It hadn't meant to get in to anything serious but sadly it did and then it ended. "Just went in two different directions" Molly lied and chewed on her lip for a bit. How could she make someone understand why she had done what she had done?

"Do you miss either of them?"

Molly thought about it for a moment and had to say that yes she really did miss both of them. They were different in their own way. "Yeah, I do and you know what? That's okay to miss someone, do you miss your ex?"

"I miss the good times we had more so than anything else, I miss the early time of us dating rather than what happened"

"Sometimes people don't realise they got a good thing until it's gone" she sighed.

"Which one was the good one though?" Sandra asked.

Mollright to actually start comparing them especially when she was the one to break up with the both of them; for two different reasons too. "They were both good in their own way" she smiled but knew that Sandra couldn't see it and that was okay.

Silence fell between the two once more and she let it continue, it was probably best. This was actually the most she had bared her soul in a while. Even Charles didn't know she had been with someone else, that wasn't the reason for the end of her marriage; Bones had come after they had split.

Had she been falling in love with Bones? Molly wasn't sure about that but she did like him, more than she probably should've. She had tried to put a bit of distance between her and males for a while but when she got attracted to Bones all of that had gone out of the window.

The moment you rule out looking for someone they just magically seem to appear in your life and it can be one of those moments when you cant just ignore it no matter what happens. It was the most silliest thing with Bones too.. it had been her attitude towards him, the way that she didn't take no shit from him and that's really where it all started.

Molly wanted to believe that they would find her but at the same time even _she_ didn't know where they were so how could they find them?

Then something came to her, an idea that she really didn't think would work but she had to try, right? Molly reached in to her hair and pulled out the hair pins that she used to keep her hair up and away from her neck. She knew that she had probably lost a couple on the way here but with every pin she pulled out she could feel her hair falling more and more about her face.

She moved over to the cage door and felt around for the lock and before she knew it she was putting her hair pin in to the lock to try and unlock it. Molly actually hoped that it would work because of the fact that it would mean that she would be able to get them out of here or at least as far away from this place as she could get them and maybe call for help afterwards.

Molly tried to unlock the door with the pin for a while but it wasn't budging, she then yelled out before kicking the cage door out of frustration and it was the worst thing she could feel right now.

She calmed down a little bit and chewed on her lip for a moment before she turned to look at the bars of the cages and said "You asked me if I had anyone at home and I said that I didn't have a husband or a boyfriend that was correct..."

"But there is someone waiting for you to go home?" Sandra asked.

"Yeah, there is someone waiting for me to get home"

"Who's that?" Sandra moved closer to the bars once more and had a feeling that she knew what was coming next but would rather let Molly confirm it before she even said anything.

"My son," she admitted and put her hand in to the pocket of her trousers once more and wrapped her fingers around the picture. "His name is Adam"

"And the father of your son is...?" Sandra asked.

-.-

"But isn't all of this damage going to make looking that much harder?" Monk asked Fingers.

"Well if they've found somewhere then surely it's going to be somewhere that isn't damaged and I don't think it's around this part so they might actually have to widen their search" Fingers replied.

"Good luck telling that to him then" Monk nudged his head in the direction of where Bones was talking with the rest of SF.

Everyone knows that once SF is involved they are in charge and from the tensed looks that Captain James was giving Bones; he wasn't too happy that he was involved in the first place.

"It's like a powder keg" Monk said.

"Sierra Leone?" Fingers replied once more and pushed his eyebrows together in a confused look.

"No, Captain James and Bones.. Whatever is going on betweenn those two it's like it's going to blow and that might not be the best thing especially if they want to get the Bossman's ex missus back"

Fingers looked over at Captain James who was checking some kit and Bones who was in their makeshift control building and picked up on the tensed looks even from here. "Well if he gets Molly back then It won't be so powder keggy and then things might actually go back to normal around here"

"I thought you liked Bones"

"I do and of course I respect Captain James but I don't think personal feelings should be brought in to it and that's why it's a good thing Bossman isn't leading the charge on this one and Kingy is because he doesn't have a personal connection to Molly"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Monk patted Fingers' chest "let's get this done and then maybe they will have a plan"

-.-

Molly got finished talking about who the father was and there was a silence and she wasn't sure that she wanted that or not because it felt like Sandra was judging her.

Then finally Sandra actually spoke and asked "Are you going to ever tell him?"

Molly had thought about it a few times about telling him but she wasn't sure whether she should but growing up without a father was worse. "I don't know right now, the last thing I want to do is make things ten times harder for anyone"

"He should know, Molly, for your child's sake"

"Yeah, I know"

And if they ever got out of there then she might tell him but for now she just wanted to get back to Adam and hold on to him; she was starting to wonder just why the hell she had even said yes to this trip in the first place.


	9. Chapter 9

**I've decided to add two shows together and I'm sorry if it gets a bit confusing if you have never seen Strike Back. If you haven't send me a PM and I'll try to help you out with faces for the two new guys**

 **-.-**

Back at camp base SF were trying to get out a location but really it was a little bit harder than they thought it would be this time round but that isn't to say that they were stuck. They were just taking a bit more time on this one, time they really didn't have but when they didn't know where they were going it was a little bit difficult.

Their luck was about to change and it was only because of two strangers that they got their big break.

Captain James was going out of his nut and more than anything he wanted to help because this was Molly. This was the woman that he had thought that he would be with for the rest of his life but it hadn't actually happened like that. He still remembers the day that she told him she wanted some space, he had asked her if there was anyone else and she had been honest and said that there wasn't. He believed her.

But the day that had really hurt him, it wasn't the day that Molly left, it wasn't how she had said things; it was the day that she had wanted a divorce, the day that she had signed the papers. Her shoulders had been taunt as if she was carrying a big secret or the weight of the world was on her shoulders and it looked like she could crack at any minute.

Lately when he closed his eyes he could see that brown hair, he could smell the shampoo that she used to use. Words that like _might gonna_ or _nut_ or any other words would circle his head when he thought about her and he had tried so hard to just accept that he couldn't get her back but it didn't matter; he loved her still and there was no way around it.

Elvis had been the one to tell him to fight for her but whenever he tried to, she just didn't want to see him or speak and then suddenly out of nowhere she had accepted his call and they had talked and that was why he had gone to her when he needed a medic; he was using this situation to his own gain if he's honest but right now more than anything he wished that he hadn't brought Molly because losing her once had been bad enough but losing her a second time that was something he couldn't bear to let happen.

Captain James was lost in his thoughts when another soldier, this time of the Sierra Leone military came over and spoke to him.

"Excuse me, Captain James, there is a couple of men at the main gates saying that they can help you find your missing medic"

At that Captain James looked up and took notice. "What men?" he asked.

The soldier spoke in to his radio and then said to Captain James "They said their names are Sergeants Stonebridge and Scott"

"Ask them if they mean Michael Stonebridge"

The soldier spoke to the man at the gate and then said to Captain James "Yes, he said his name is Michael Stonebridge"

Michael Stonebridge had been a name he hadn't heard about in a long time, he had been SF too and they had been together on a couple hushed missions in Afghan but he honestly didn't expect to hear that name, here, now. He felt a little bit surprised that Michael had actually been here and could help them find Molly. If they _could_ help them find Molly then why hadn't they got her out? Either way they were going to find out soon enough.

"Grant them access" Captain James spoke after a minute and then made his way over to the small building that the others were in.

Bones looked up when Captain James came in and was about to ask him what he was doing here when he looked straight passed him to the two guys that were walking up to where they were and said "Who the hell are these fuckers?" he looked over at Captain James before speaking once more "Did you let these guys in?"

"They said they could help find Molly and one of them I know and so should you" he said to Bones.

"Fucking great" Bones muttered and then then stood up when both sergeants walked in to their building.

"Captain James" Michael Stonebridge held his hand out and shook hands with Captain James "this is my partner Damien Scott"

"But I'm the better looking one" Damien Scott said, American.

"This is my Sergeant King and that is Captain McClyde of Special Forces" Captain James introduced each one of them to the two males that had joined them. "Because I have a connection with the primary; I can't actually take part in this mission so Kingy is in charge of this one"

Stonebridge nodded. "That is understandable but I was asked by my Colonel to speak to the man in charge and that would be you, wouldn't it Captain?" he asked and looked at Captain James.

"Who exactly are you guys and who is your Colonel?" Bones asked.

"Oh, sorry we're Sergeants Stonebridge and Scott from Section 20 -"

"Never heard of you"

"And you never will" Scott replied and looked over at Bones who was really starting to dislike these two.

"And our Colonel is Grant-"

"Wait, _Eleanor_ Grant?" Bones asked and Stonebridge nodded again. "Jesus that woman is a ballbuster, I pity you if you have Grant"

"Nothing has clearly changed then Mike" Damien spoke and smiled over at Stonebridge.

"Anyway," Michael spoke. "we have some intel that you might find useful especially if you're going after your missing medic"

"How do you know about our missing medic?" Captain James asked.

"We've been keeping an eye on these people for a while and every few weeks they move places and we managed to keep up, anyway we were keeping an eye on this warehouse when we spotted these men carrying in a soldier" Mike opened the folder that he was holding and put the pictured down on the table. It was of Molly being carried in to the warehouse.

"Do you know if they still have her?" Kingy asked. "We are hoping to go in and get her out"

"They do but going in at the moment might be a bit of a risk to our operation" Mike admitted.

"Why your operation? And if you knew she was there why haven't you gone in?" Bones asked.

"Because we're not here for your medic, in fact we're not here at all" Scott spoke "We are here for this asshole" he took a second picture from the folder and put that down on the table "this is the guy that we want"

"You're Military Intelligence" Captain James said.

"Got it in one boss" Scott said sarcastically. "Like we said, we're not here but we are willing to go in with you undercover as Special Forces" he looked over at Bones.

"This isn't just about the female Brits, this is actually a lot bigger and your section has stumbled in to it by the way of your missing medic"

"What if we get someone in on the inside, would that help us a lot better?" Bones asked sarcastically and looked over at the two guys.

"It would help to know what exactly is going on in there but at the same time we've gone in with worst odds" Stonebridge admitted. There had been missions that had been a hell of a lot worst than this and there had been missions where it's not been as bad. But this one made him feel a bit angry that someone would use British women to pedal their other crimes.

"Fun times" Scott said sarcastically and smiled.

"If you're BMI then.. why is he here?" Bones asked and looked over at Scott.

"I'm here for a holiday, pal, do you want our help or not?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

"Not really, we're helping out whether you like it or not and I was just asking to be polite" Scott then looks over at Stonebridge "No one seems to get my sarcasm around here, Michael, this is making me feel sad"

Bones sighed and then rolled his eyes slightly before he then said "Fine, tell us what you know and we can have someone go in undercover to get what we need"

"Do you have the man?" Michael asked Bones who seemed to smile.

"Oh we do" he then looked over at Peanut who was looking over at the map. He didn't realise that everyone was looking at him at first before he felt nearly all of their eyes on him.

"Again, Boss?" Peanut asked as he finally looked up at him. "Can I take someone with me?"

"I'll go with you" Scott said immediately. "If you send one of these guys in then if they're bright enough they might actually spot that we're trying to play them"

"I don't think they are smart at all, I mean they took our primary in broad daylight knowing full well that she's military" Kingy spoke this time and looked over at the two newcomers. He wasn't so sure on this plan but if it got the women back then it might just help them out. "Do you know if our primary is actually the only one in the building?"

"We know that there is one other woman in there and the others could have been sold to other men, sorry about that if it's true" Michael nodded.

Captain James knew he shouldn't even be listening to this because of the fact that he had a personal connection to the primary but he didn't know that Bones shouldn't be there either because of the connection _he_ had with the primary so it looked like everyone was breaking the rules especially if they were going against orders.

"Well 2-Section stands ready to help out" Kingy nodded once and looked between Stonebridge and Bones.

"We might need them so you'll want to put them on standby because if we send peanut in and he confirms that the primary is there then we're going in at first light tomorrow. We are not letting them sell these women on like they have other women because it's clear that this isn't their first rodeo if twelve women have all been taken" Bones just wanted to make sure that they got the females back so that they could get out of this hell hole.

-.-

The door opened up once more and the footsteps were getting closer and closer, this time there were about three pairs. They were getting closer and as they stopped outside of the cages, torches were on again.

Both Molly and Sandra moved away from the doors again but this time instead of leaving food they reached in for the two women. Molly tried to kick hers but that didn't stop him from grabbing hold of her legs and pulling her towards the door once more. He managed to stand Molly up and started walking with her, Sandra was behind them.

They walked for a bit along and then up to some stairs and through the door that they clearly here shut when they come down to them. There was lightly and because they hadn't seen light for a while the two females closed their eyes up but still they were marched through to two different rooms. "Sandra!" Molly called to her but the doors shut and they couldn't hear anything.

"What do you want?" Molly asked angrily at the guy that held on to her. It was a room.

"Get changed out of that and in to the dress, make yourself look presentable" he said and pushed her away from him before turning to the door.

"Why?" Molly asked and glared over at him.

"Because you're being sold tonight and I really don't want them to know you're military"

Molly scoffed "You don't want your _bosses_ to know that you fucked up more like" he said at the guys back. He started to walk back to her and Molly expected him to hit her but he said instead...

"If I hit you then it will leave a mark and that will lower your price, so shut up and get dressed or I will have someone pull those clothes off and dress you instead" he then looked over her face before he marched to the door and banged on it, the door opened and the man left Molly alone.

Her heart was pounding and she swallowed hard, Molly was scared but there was no way she would show that to these fuckers.


	10. Chapter 10

Rather than leaving it too late, they decided to get Peanut in to the warehouse where Molly was being held; with the other team keeping an eye on the place they were able to tell them who was coming and going and with that it meant that they found an opening for him to go in. He even managed to get Scott in too. Scott went in under the pretense of his bodyguard.

They were sure they had heard something along the lines of them wondering just why an American was being used as a bodyguard but they let it slip because they weren't here to ask questions or anything like that. They were here to get information to Molly and that was it.

They walked down this hallway and it was hard enough not to want to shoot these fuckers for taking the girls but to pretend that he too wanted to buy some of these females was hard to get into.

Scott noticed that there were actually a lot more women than they had been told about, so there wasn't just twelve here. There was more and that made him feel a little bit uneasy himself. But to get in to character he let his eyes move over some of the females and gave them a smile.

Peanut was lead into a room and was told that there would be a female with him shortly and he actually prayed that it would be Molly first time because at least then it wouldn't look as if he was picky. He had to remember everything that he had been told so that he could tell her just what was going to happen.

Scott was stood outside the door and looked up at the man when he brought a _blonde_ female and he knew right away that this wasn't the woman they were looking for. So he took the man to one side and said quietly to him. "The boss has... particular types and he prefers a brunette rather than a blonde, if you take her in there then he's likely to beat you with his shoe than hand over cash" he nudged his head to the female who was standing there looking terrified and more than anything Scott wanted to get her out of here but they couldn't break cover no matter what.

The other guy mumbled something in another language before he went to find another girl for Peanut.

While he was waiting for the asshole to come back Scott was trying to take everything in so that she could tell the others just what the layout was, he was just about to take a couple of pictures when the asshole from before came walking down towards him with another girl and this time they were brunette and it was the medic that they were trying to get out of here.

They had made sure she put on different clothes and Scott had to admit that she looked pretty good in a dress and even gave her an appreciative look at her.

"Keep looking like that and I will stab your eyes out with something very sharp" Molly snapped.

"Wow you have one sharp tongue on you don't you?" Scott said sarcastically. "Don't worry sweetheart, my boss will sort you out" he pushed the door open and the guy walked Molly into the room and Scott looked over the shoulders of both and nodded.

The door shut behind the two and Scott looked around once more.

Molly looked from the door and over to the man that was standing in the room and she wanted to widen her eyes when she realised that it was Peanut but she didn't let any emotion reach her eyes or even her face for that matter; her expression was flat.

Peanut made it look like he was checking her over and maybe he was but it wasn't for the usual way that he would look a woman over, no this time it was to make sure that they hadn't done anything to her. "You are a nice one aren't you" he said and grinned at her.

He then looked over at the other guy that was in the room with them and said "Can you leave us, I want to have some time with her" the guy didn't move so Peanut then said "Get out" he pointed to the door and watched as the guy moved to the door and opened it before he walked out, the door shutting behind him but not before he caught a glimpse of Scott once more.

"Jesus Peanut, what are you doing here?" Molly said and couldn't help but be so glad that he was here because it meant that they were coming in to get her. It meant that she could go home.

"We're coming in to get you early in the morning, you have to be ready"

"You have to get us out tonight, these girls are being sold and they need to be out of here tonight before the big sales tomorrow." Molly had heard the others talking and she took as much information in as she could and would keep that in her mind but was thankful for the fact that the guy in this room had been someone she knew. "So who is the guy at the door?"

"Damien Scott, he's Military Intelligence and working for us" he admitted.

"But I heard an American accent" she pushed her eyebrows together in confusion.

"I don't know how it works but I will take it back to the others that you need to be got out tonight which will probably be better for us because then we can make sure that no one else is sold"

"There's one thing you have to do for me, Peanut" she said and looked up at him. "You have to make sure that the other women are out before me"

"Come on Molly, you know if we get the others out before you there could be a chance that we lose you again"

"My life isn't any more important than those women, promise me" she said adamantly. Molly wanted him to promise that they would get the other females out before her. It was a reckless thing to ask especially when she had Adam at home but she wasn't going to let anyone be left behind because of her. Molly doesn't think that she could live with that if someone died because of her.

"Alright, fine but if it's not me who comes to get you then you can guarantee that whoever does won't keep to that promise" he admitted. "Are you alright?" Peanut realised that he hadn't asked that.

"I just want to get out of here so I can get back home but it's nothing that I can't handle" she lied because he didn't need to know that she had almost broke down when she hadn't been able to get the cage door open. "But there is something, I think we're spread out because where I am I only know of one other female down there, which feels like a much lower level and when I came up here there was other females so we could be spread out and if that is then it's probably going to take a while to get us all out so make sure that they know that"

There was a light tap on the door which indicated that someone was coming back to the room.

She moved closer to him to make it look like they had been close and just before the door opened she messed her hair up a little and when the door opened Molly looked over her shoulder at the other man. "You both disgust me" she said and pushed Peanut away from her as she looked back up at him.

"I like her spirit I think I will buy this one" he went back to the leering guy he had been before. He put his hands into the pockets of his black trousers and kept the grin on his lips.

"Yeah? Well I will kill you in the end" Molly said with a disgusted tone, or at least as disgusted as she could get.

Peanut laughed and then looked at the guy who he would do the sale with. "I will be back for her in the morning with the money, make sure you tell everyone that she's sold"

Peanut moved towards her and made it look like he was going to kiss her on her cheek but instead he whispered " _Tonight, be ready"_ he then pulled away before he walked out the room and to Scott. They walked away from the room but it was bloody hard leaving one of their own in here with all of these nasty bastards. "Get everything you need?"

"Yep," Scott admitted and looked over at Peanut "how's your girl doing?"

"I'll tell you when we get outside" Peanut admitted and they walked towards the door in silence after that.

-.-

Molly couldn't believe that they had finally found them, that they were going to be getting out of here tonight. Today felt a hell of a lot better. She tried not to let it show but she was so much more happier knowing that they had got in. But knowing the SF boys they really could get in anywhere.

She just had to make sure that Sandra was safe too, Molly wasn't going to be leaving this place without her or the others. She would make sure that they were safe first before she was even rescued.

-.-

A little way from the building Peanut got on comms to command back at the base that they were staying on with 2-Section "Boss, we're going to have to go in tonight to get the females out and there is a lot more than the twelve that we thought there were so maybe they're not being sold off as we thought they were but the primary said that the big sale was tomorrow so we're getting in there tonight"

"Rather than come to us we'll come to you Peanut so find somewhere you can hunker down for the time being and we'll come to you with your stuff"

"Understood" He said in to the earpiece and then looked over at Scott. "You got somewhere we can stay for a while?"

"Yes I do" he smiled and showed Peanut where they would be going.

-.-

The day actually passed much faster knowing that they were putting the plan in to action tonight and then they were heading out to get the women out of that building so that they could get back home and getting Molly out too. Scott had given them a quick low down of everything and that helped them out a lot.

Molly however was in the building doing her nut in because of how much she just wanted to get out of here, she never told Sandra mostly because of the fact that she wanted to make sure that it actually happened and that it wasn't a dream.

They couldn't risk a helicopter so they had Richards driving a second vehicle that was parked a little bit away from the building so that they didn't get heard.

If Molly could pace her cage then she would be doing that right now; she had been waiting since Peanut had left and now she just wanted to get it over and done with. Sandra was back in the cage and she had said that she too had been put on hold as to whether they would buy her and it made anger flare through Molly's veins because these people were animals to do this to women.

Then at last the time came for the teams to go in. This time they were going in together because of the fact that there were so many places to go and they would have to get all the females out.

They got in the building and the gunfire was definitely loud and as Bones moved through the place he was making his way to Molly. He was going to make sure that she would get out; he knows what she had said to Peanut but fuck that, Bones was going to make sure that she got out too and if he had to carry her out then so be it.

Molly was sure that she could hear gunfire either that or she was hearing things or it was her imagination giving her the very thing that she wanted. To hear her boys come and get her. But the door opened and the sound of gunfire seemed to echo where they were. She heard someone coming down the stairs and could just make out a light moving as the person moved closer to where they were. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest because this was the moment that it was finally over.

The light moved across the rest of the cages but there clearly was no one in there and when the person got to her cage she pointed to the other one "Get her out first" she said and made sure that Sandra was out first but the man didn't listen and she couldn't see his face but she knew it was SF.

"Move back" Bones spoke to Molly. He was using a charge to open the lock.

Molly moved as far back as she could get and there was a loud bang and the door opened. The man reached in with a hand and she moved towards the hand and put hers in to it before he helped her out. The SF man then moved on to the next one and told her to move back too.

Sandra was out and Molly was going to hug her but they didn't have much time, the blonde held on to Molly while Molly held on to the SF guy and they were being taken back through the building; making their way out and all Molly could think was that she was glad they were getting the hell out of here.

It was a complete mess as they walked back through, Molly was used to seeing things like this but it must be hard for the females that weren't so used to it.

It was only when they got outside did Molly actually take a deep breath; it was then that she realised that she had been holding her breath as they were moving towards the door.

Sandra then pulled her into a hug and she happily accepted it because it was something that she needed. Molly even felt like crying because of the fact that she was out of there and safe with the section.

Richards had brought a vehicle up to where they were and the other females were being put in the back and Molly walked over with Sandra and helped her up in to the back of the truck. "You are safe now ladies" Molly said and there was a cry throughout the back of the truck at the relief that they were feeling.

A voice called out to her and she looked over in the direction of Charles and she walked towards him and he her and for the first time in a while she hugged him tightly. They shouldn't be doing this but right now she really didn't care because she was safe. The men that had taken her had made sure that she had heels on and so she was a little bit taller than she had been when she had last seen him, which meant that she could see over his shoulder.

What Molly saw was the SF man that had got her out of there was looking over at her and when she put her chin on Charles' shoulder he looked away. She swallowed hard and then slowly moved away from Charles' arms and looked up at him with a soft smile. "I hope Mansfield didn't do anything while I was gone"

"Only keep insisting that he's from Derby" Charles replied.

Molly didn't realise that tears had fallen from her eyes and she moved her hand up and wiped them away before she laughed softly. "Sorry I'm not dressed in the right gear, Sir, but I had no other choice"

"I'm just bloody glad that you're safe now Dawes, I don't care what you're wearing" he admitted with a smile and then moved a dark strand of her hair from her face and back to behind her ear.

"Does that happen a lot?" Scott asked as he came up to Bones' side.

"That's his ex wife so I'm not sure" Bones shrugged up a shoulder and turned away.

Charles looked over at Damien Scott before he excused himself from where Molly was and walked over to where Scott was standing. "So, you get everything you need?" he asked.

"We did and more" he admitted and smiled. "She going to be okay?" Scott nudged his head over to where Molly was and the guys that had moved over to her when they saw that she was safe.

"It will probably take a while but in the end I'm sure that she will be" Charles watched Molly receive hugs from all the section and then looked back at Scott. "What you two going to do now?"

"Give Grant what she wants and then on to the next place, you know if you ever want a job I can talk to Grant about it-"

"Or rather I can" Stonebridge said and patted Scott on the shoulder.

"No, I'm happy here right now" he admitted and nodded. Charles held out a hand and shook both of their hands "Good luck in your next adventure and if we ever cross paths then I know it's really bad" he smiled at them before the two walked away. Charles actually liked the two guys and wondered whether or not they would ever cross paths but like he said he was happy where he was right now. With his section and everyone that crossed _his_ path.

"We're heading out now Molly so you might want to get in a ride" Richards spoke and looked over at her.

They might not have got off to the best start but will it actually stay like that or will it fizzle out? She wasn't sure but they were heading out and she jumped a little when the back of the truck that had the other females in was shut up. Maybe Molly was a little bit more afraid than she was letting on. They were heading to a hospital and with the damage that had been caused by a flood they would have to make sure that it was somewhere else.

Molly was about to get in when she saw the SF that had brought her out pull down his mask and she felt her mouth fall at the sight of who it was. "Bones" she said softly to herself and they locked eyes for a moment before he moved away to his own vehicle. She watched him get in and she knew that things were going to get a bit more complicated from here. Molly got in and shut the door before they moved out.


	11. Chapter 11

All the women were taken to the hospital for a check-up and they were all kept in because they were suffering from dehydration. Even Molly was kept in and she was there a shorter time than Sandra or even the other women. They wanted to make sure that she was in fact fine but for Molly it meant a proper bed.

And another night away from her team.

But who was she to complain? Molly knew she would be able to sleep or at least she hoped that she could get some anyway.

-.-

Her eyes were moving fast underneath her eyelids as she got deeper and deeper into the dream.

 _She was running away from the men that had taken her, Molly was moving through the warehouse. Her feet kept getting caught up in the bottom of her dress and she kept tripping up but their laughter seemed to just bounce off the walls._

 _Her heart was pounding hard in her chest and she was crawling along the floor and it was then that she saw the hand outstretched to her that she looked up and she saw who it was before she slipped her hand into his. "They are going to get me" she said sadly and then swallowed hard._

 _"No one is going to get you again, you are safe I promise" Charles spoke and smiled at her._

 _"But I'm not safe..." her eyes looked over his face and then slowly it started to turn into Bones._

 _"You're dreaming, Molly, no one is going to get you... just open your eyes"_

 _"I don't want to be here anymore"_

 _"Then open your eyes" he put his hand against her cheek and smiled at her this time._

Molly pulled herself out of the dream and sat up quickly, it took her a moment to remember where she was but it took her another minute to realise that she wasn't on her own. When she saw Bones her heart gave a heavy thump but she wasn't sure why, especially when she was the one that ended it.

There was a silence for a moment and she finally calmed down enough to lay back down on the pillows. If there was anyone she had expected to be sitting here it was Charles and not Bones.

"I didn't think I would actually see you again" Molly admitted and watched him.

There was silence from Bones for a moment and then he cleared his throat "Well we were bound to cross paths at some point" he watched her back before he looked down at the ground "Plus I'm pretty sure that you're the only person I know who can get in to trouble by being kidnapped"

A slight smile pulled at Molly's lips and she looked away towards the window. It was light out and she wasn't sure just how long she had slept but it didn't actually seem that long and it made a frown pull at her lips because she wanted to be able to sleep for a while but clearly that hadn't been the case.

"Well you know me, gotta make things hard for everyone" Molly moved her eyes back over to look at him. She was sure that she wasn't the only one who had something like this done, in fact Georgie had had it done to her and that was really what started Elvis and Georgie getting back together but she doubted that it would be the case for herself and Bones.

Or at least she wasn't looking to get back with anyone but when did that ever stop her from doing something.

"How are you?" Molly asked him after a moment.

"I'm alright, been busy"

"Saving women all over the world?" Molly teased before letting another smile pull at her lips this time it was a lot fuller than the one from before.

"Well I can't just let women go missing without going in to save them"

Molly has to laugh softly before she chews on her lip. "I'm glad you're okay, it's definitely been a while since we last spoke so to see you back at the warehouse was a bit of a shock" she said honestly. Even though she knew SF would have to come in and save her and the other females, she just didn't expect it to be Bones. Although she guessed that she should've given it a thought at some point.

"What about you?" Bones asked her, he wanted to know just how she was especially after everything that had happened. They hadn't seen each other in a while and being nosy he wanted to know just how things were with you.

Molly thought about it for a moment before she finally said "I don't know," she said honestly. "I came here to help and then I end up being taken from my team and almost sold, if it hadn't been for Peanut then I would probably be on the way to god knows where right now"

"We would never have let that happen, you do know that, we -I- would've found you in the end"

Molly watched him, he would've looked for her no matter how long it took and so would've Charles who she was really surprised wasn't here. "Well i'm glad that it didn't take that long because the last thing I would've wanted was to tie up the SF time for a while" she admitted. "You could be out there doing other things"

"Well yeah but we got to look out for our own people too" he smiled at her.

"I know that you would have my back but so does the team and they are not aware of anything happening between us"

Bones nodded and sat back in his seat before he spoke once more "So, you never said that you were married to Charles James that is really.. I want to say impressive but I'm sure that it would come out as sarcasm; so I'm going to say that it's scary"

"You knew there was someone before you; I just never said that I was married and I never thought that you would know Charles anyway and from how I take it you two don't get on" Molly wasn't sure she would actually want to know just why they didn't get on but she was sure that it had nothing to do with her because it sounded like it was from before even she had come in to the picture.

"I did know I just never assumed that it would be _him_ " Bones really didn't want to get into a fight with Molly because he was honestly glad that she was alright, well as alright as anyone could be after being taken by those assholes but at least she was safe and away from them.

"I don't want to know what happened between you two" she admitted. Molly doesn't think she could even ask. Maybe it was better to just stay in the dark about those two especially when Charles had been her husband and Bones was her boyfriend and now she was single and not with either of them.

Bones watched her, he was quiet for the first time in a while and he did want to say what had happened between the two of them but Molly could do without hearing stuff from the past. "They're probably going to send you to see someone because of your ordeal"

"Yeah, they probably will" she admitted and scoffed. Molly looked up at the ceiling and chewed on her lip for a moment. She had been carrying around so much baggage that maybe she should unload but at the said time Molly was worried that if she did actually unload then she would end up being taken off the team and sat on the bench. If she really let everything out then she was more than likely going to have to keep going.

At the same time she really wanted to talk to someone about everything. To completely unload all of what was in her nut but again she would have to make sure that she didn't say too much just in case they bench her.

"So if he's your ex does that mean he's-" Bones was cut off quickly.

"Yeah" she admitted and chewed on the inner side of her lip for a moment before she then sat up and tried to put the pillows up behind her but couldn't do it so Bones helped her and she smiled softly at him and watched as he sat back down.

"And I'm guessing that he doesn't know?" he asked.

Molly shook her head and then reached over and grabbed the picture from the bedside cabinet. "I keep going through the talk in my nut but everytime I get to the whole Adam part it's like my brain fails to actually form any words so that really doesn't help"

Bones moved his seat closer and took her hand and she accepted it and gripped hold of his hand too.

She needed it more than she could've thought and she smiled at him. "I will tell him, soon I will" Molly promised.

Bones felt something inside of him that he never thought he would feel and that was disappointment that she would want to tell Charles about his son; he had become quite fond of the kid and maybe that was why she had ended it between the two of them because he was becoming too close to them. He came over as an asshole, and maybe he was, but when he found someone that he cared about then he would do anything to keep it and he thought he had found Molly but she was clearly on a different path to him.

"Do you want me to be there when you tell him?" Bones asked.

"No, it's probably best if I do it myself and maybe not when we're in another country. I think it's best to wait til we get home and then tell him"

"Tell me what?" the voice of Captain James said and he watched as Bones and Molly both looked over in his direction and then Molly slipped her hand from Bones'. "Are you dating _him_?" he asked and looked over at Bones before shaking his head.

"No. I-" Molly started but words started to fail her again but it seemed as if that didn't matter to Charles because he had made his mind up on them dating.

Charles scoffed "And there was me thinking that we could maybe we could work things out but I'm the idiot" he licked his bottom lip for a moment and then walked out of the ward.

Molly closed her eyes and then pinched the bridge of her nose, she was wondering where the hell she was going to go from here. Charles wanted to get back together and she was worried about what he would say about Adam. She was tired and just wanted to sleep some more.

"I can go after him and make him see sense" he went to stand up but Molly grabbed hold of his hand once more.

This time she opened up her eyes and looked at him "No, leave it," she muttered "it's probably best if you don't go after him because I can just imagine one or both of you ending up here too, no it's best to just let him stew for the time being and I'll talk to him once i'm out of here"

Charles literally had the worst timing ever and he had to walk in when they were talking about him and how she would say about Adam. Clearly he hadn't heard the first part of the talk or he would've known before she had a chance to sit him down and tell him herself.

"You should get some more rest and worry about all of this when you get out"

"If only" Molly was starting to worry about this now and she knew that it would probably keep her awake but for now she would try her best to get some more rest. Even if she had to fall asleep sitting up. She was about to close her eyes when something came to her mind "How is Sandra and the others?"

"They are going to make a recovery and will be flown home as soon as they can," he nodded "now get some rest" Bones squeezed her hand once more before he slipped his hand out of hers and sat back in his seat. Maybe he should go and talk to that idiot and make him see sense, make him get off his high horse over all of this.

But Bones also knew that he would probably end up hitting Captain James and getting in to trouble and that was the last thing he wanted right now.


	12. Chapter 12

Molly finally got out the hospital and she was more than happy about that because it meant that she could get back to normal, if there was one thing she didn't like it was the fact that she couldn't do the stuff that she had come here to do. Whether they would send her back home or let her do the work that she had come out here to do was definitely something that she wasn't sure about but they didn't have another medic and getting one would take a while.

So she might as well stay here and finish up then maybe they could go back to home.

The rain was coming down again and Molly wasn't sure just how big of a difference all of this was going to make especially if there was more flooding. But they would do what they can to make things much easier for those that had lost everything in the floods.

What Molly had been looking forward to was putting her uniform on again, she had felt strange without it out especially when she had seen Bones and Captain James with theirs on. That was definitely something that she wasn't looking forward to. That was one conversation that really needed to wait til they got home because at least then she would be able to explain it better.

Drama wasn't needed when they were overseas because it made things that much more worst but between Private Richards, Captains James and McClyde it was definitely something she hadn't thought would ever happen to her. Afghanistan had been known for that and she didn't want a repeat of what had happened back then.

Molly was dreading the ride back to camp if Captain James actually went and picked her up from the hospital but thankfully it had been Bones, although she was wondering just what would be said when they arrived back.

"Your carriage has arrived, princess" Bones teased and that got a smile from Molly. It was definitely a nicer day when she smiled.

"And who are you? My fairy godmother?" Molly asked and walked with him towards the doors.

That morning she had dropped in on Sandra and she too was going home or at least to a place where she could collect her passport and get the hell out of here. Her family has suffered enough. Molly had to make sure that she contacted her own family because they would probably know by now what had happened.

They must be going out their minds with worry.

They were heading back to the camp when Bones turned to glance at Molly "So, what really happened with you and your ex husband?"

"It's probably a long story"

"We have a long drive and probably enough time" he admitted and then put his attention back on the road once more "But if you don't want to talk about it then that's fine but you _are_ going to have to talk to someone about it because it looks like your shoulders are a bit more heavier this morning and when you're out here, that's never a good thing"

Molly sighed softly and chewed on her lip for a moment. She wasn't sure if she could really explain everything but if she told him a brief summary of what had happened then maybe he might understand why she wasn't still married to Charles.

She slowly moved her eyes over to look out the passenger window, the rain splattering the window and for a moment she wondered where she could actually start because there was just so much that Molly could tell him. But she figured that she would have to start somewhere.

"It was Charles' mother that really split us up, she wasn't so bad in the beginning or at least I pretended to think that she was nice but really she was a horrible bitch, I had to get out of there and it all came to a head around our wedding anniversary but like I said, it had started way before that."

"The monster-in-law, figures, what happened?"

"Well the first time we were at a dinner with all of her friends and it was a nightmare"

-.-

 **Flashback 1**

 _"This is really making me feel nervous, Charles" Molly muttered as they stood at the front door of his parents house in Bath. She had hoped that she would be able to get out of it but sadly that hadn't been the case. Since they had got married Molly was really convinced that his mother didn't like her. His father was lovely, but his mother... that was one woman she couldn't crack no matter how hard she tried to get Pam to like her._

 _"You will be fine" he whispered and kissed the top of her head. Charles was a little nervous about this dinner too but he wasn't going to let his wife know that because knowing Molly she would panic and she had already tried on twelve outfits before they even left the house and then went with the original look anyway. It had been a little bit exhausting watching her but in the end they managed to come to a solution._

 _"You have to say that she is your moth-" the door opened up and Molly put on a smile and she saw the smile slowly start to slide off of Pam's face when she saw Molly and that wasn't the best thing._

 _"Darling!" Pam pulled Charles into a hug and then patted his back. "I am so happy that you made it" she slowly pulled away and then looked over at Molly "Molly" she smiled slightly and then turned to look back at Charles "You will never guess who is here!" she pulled him into the house by putting her arm through his._

 _"Hang on mum," he said and then held out his hand for his wife and smiled at her. Charles knew his mother could be difficult and while she liked Rebecca; he had to admit that she wasn't exactly welcoming of Molly. Charles held on to her hand when she walked over to him, after shutting the door. "Now what were you saying? Who has turned up?"_

 _Molly had butterflies in her stomach and she felt like she was going to be in for a rough night, at least Robert liked her so that will make things a little bit easier. She held on to his hand a little bit more tightly and watched as he looked over at her. Her husband, this beautiful man that loved her no matter what._

 _"Maria, you remember Maria right?" Pam spoke as if he hadn't interrupted her._

 _"Isn't that Brenda's daughter? Because if that's not who it is then no I don't remember her" Charles spoke._

 _"Then you do remember her because yes she's Brenda's daughter and she's here all the way from London, she's just broken up with her boyfriend, he was a bit of an asshole from what Brenda was saying"_

 _Charles looked at his mother with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head. "Well I'm sure she will fit in just right here then" he said sarcastically and then said "Excuse me" he then walked towards the dining room with his wife._

 _"So how many people are going to be here tonight?" Molly whispered to him before they walked in to the dining room and she got her answer and it was quite a lot, they all looked at her and some of them smiled and waved but Brenda definitely didn't and looked at Molly as if she was dirt on the bottom of her shoe. Well this is going to be the worst dinner ever._

 _"Quite a few" he admitted and then let go of her hand before he turned to her "Shall I take your coat?"_

 _"Oh, yeah, thanks" she muttered and then took her coat off and handed it to him. Charles gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before he walked back out the dining room to hang their coats up, leaving Molly to the awkward talk in the dining room._

 _Once they were all seated that's really when things got tough for her._

 _While they were eating there was only limited talk but then in between dinner and dessert things turned a little bit._

 _"So, Maria, you said that you were working at a big law firm in London?" Pam asked as they all took a break from eating and waited for a bit for dessert._

 _"Yes, just started there and I feel as though I'm going to like it there definitely" Maria replied and then looked over at Charles "Do you remember me saying about working for a law firm, Charlie?"_

 _Molly raised an eyebrow and glanced over at her husband, everyone tended to call him Charlie but for her it was always Charles. He never liked it when she called him Charlie but it seems as if Elvis wasn't the only one who could call him that._

 _"I think so" he muttered and smiled politely at Maria before he sat back in his seat and put his arm across the back of Molly's chair. "I'm pretty sure I tried to get through training" he smiled._

 _"Well I'm sure that they are lucky to have you!" Pam said to Maria and smiled._

 _"So, what is it you do, Molly?" Maria asked the dark haired young woman that Charlie had brought with him._

 _"Molly is actually a medic in the Army" Charles beamed with pride and looked over at his wife. He couldn't contain his pride whenever he spoke about this amazing woman at his side. Molly had taught him a lot and while people often said that she was lucky to have someone like him but he thinks that he is the lucky one because she's the best part of him._

 _"And that's how you two met?" Maria asked and moved her finger between Charles and Molly._

 _"Yep" Molly smiled._

 _"That is cute" Maria admitted and gave her a warm smile. "You really are one lucky man for someone like Molly"_

 _"Yes, yes I am" Charles nodded and already knew that._

 _Molly was having conflicting thoughts about Maria because she seemed genuinely nice and now she was starting to worry that maybe she had got the wrong end of the stick. "Thank you" she finally spoke and smiled back at Maria._

 _"Dessert time" Pam clapped her hands together "Brenda can you give me a hand?"_

 _"Sure" she said and stood up so quickly that Molly was sure she had been a blur._

 _"Well things aren't going so badly" Charles turned to Molly while the rest of them talked amongst themselves. "I don't know what you're so worried about" he moved a strand of her hair from her cheek and put it back behind her ear and then kissed her forehead._

 _"You're right, I gotta use the loo and then I'll be back" Molly stood up and then walked out the dining room and up the stairs to use said toilet._

 _When Molly came back down it was another matter because as she turned to go into the dining room she could hear the voices from the kitchen and every word actually hurt her._

 _"I thought you said that she wouldn't be here" Brenda spoke over at Pam who was putting the desserts on different plates._

 _"Trust me, I thought she might've been overseas, How he is parading her around is actually embarrassing. I thought we could get Maria and Charles together and then get rid of that horrid girl"_

 _"There is still time to get them together, we can work really hard though."_

 _Pam sighed, "When we met her parents, that was bad enough, they all lived in this council house and her family was the laziest i've ever met. Her dad was on the sick even though he could be in work and her mother just kept pushing out kids and who was paying for them to do that? The taxpayers, no she has to go"_

 _Pam was quiet for a moment and then said had said "You know at one point I thought he might've got together with Georgie Lane but she then went on to marry that idiot Elvis so that put a spanner in the works of that!"_

 _Molly felt her heart breaking at every word that was coming out of Pam's mouth and she only made it to the table before the two women came into the dining room and it was the first time that Molly hated the sight of his mother. It was the first time that she wanted to hit the woman with horrible words but she couldn't, not while everyone was here._

 _Molly didn't feel like eating much after that and how she kept her tears from falling down her cheeks was beyond her and she kept quiet for the rest of the dinner and Charles knew something was up but she wouldn't tell him; how could she tell him what she had overheard especially when it would be her word against his mothers and Brenda was more than likely to back up anything Pam had said anyway._

 _She knew that from there things were going to be a hell of a lot tougher but she wasn't really prepared for anything._

 **End of Flashback 1**

"And that was what she said? Jeez no wonder you hated his mother, i'm pretty sure I would've hated her if she had said that about my family but something tells me that that is just the start of it"

"Oh it was, because of hearing that your husband was better off with your friend was definitely a tough one to take" she admitted and looked over at Bones. "I really tried to please her but after hearing that I just gave up trying and started letting it get to me," she was already tired then but the rest of the time she had with Charles was going to be equally exhausting. "What do you do when your mother in law really hates you because of the fact that you didn't graduate school or go to college and become a lawyer?"

"You let her get inside your head? I thought you were tougher than that"

"When your mother in law is trying to wreck your marriage after a while you just get really tired of everything; I used to dread going home" Molly admitted and shook her head. "I would rather stay on tours than want to get home because of the fact that out there there wasn't any Pam, there wasn't a Brenda or Maria"

"Sad to say that there will always be Brenda and Pam and Maria out in the world."

"Yeah, I know" Molly knew that there would always be people in this world like those three and more often than not the people like Molly would lose.

"What did the lovely Captain James say about it?"

"He went mad, things got really tense between the two of them but she was his mother and I told him to forgive her..."

"But I take it things got even more worse after that"

"Oh, yeah, the big one" she muttered and sighed before looking out the window once more.

-.-

 **Flashback 2**

 _Molly looked down at the picture and smiled to herself, she was half excited half terrified because of the fact that this was their first child together but also because of Pam being the bitch that she was. They were just about holding it together and she was hoping that things would be a little bit easier when Charles found out the truth of why she was so grumpy lately._

 _She had told him that she had things to do but Charles was going to fix a tap at his mothers anyway and for Molly to give him a call when she was done and he would let her know when he would be home._

 _That was how things were meant to be going but that definitely didn't end up that way._

 _"I can't stay for long because it's my anniversary and I got something special for Molly, she's doing her own thing right now and I've come to fix your tap" he said and started to clear everything out from underneath the sink._

 _"Well happy Anniversary" Pam said and it made her feel like she was betraying everything that she had said because of the fact that she didn't want the two of them to be together for much more, she wanted to get Charles and Maria together so that they would make the best couple. At one point she had thought about Georgie Lane being the better girl for her son but clearly that hadn't worked out especially when she had married Elvis._

 _Charles smiled "You couldn't make us a cuppa could you mum, I am dying for a brew" he stood up and took his phone out of his pocket to put on the table. "Molly will ring when she's done so I better crack on with this" he pointed to the sink._

 _"Of course I will" Pam smiled and watched as Charles went back to the sink and then she grabbed his phone and put it in her pocket._

 _If Molly rang then there was no way that he was going to be rushing off so quickly._

 _So when Molly finished with the hospital she actually rang him but there was no answer. She assumed like most times he had put his phone down and just didn't actually hear it. So she waited for a little bit and then she tried again, this time it went to voicemail straight away and she found that odd because of the fact that Charles never turned his mobile off._

 _Molly always trusted Charles, that definitely came in to question but it was his mother that she didn't trust because of what a scheming bitch she really was. So Molly tried his mobile again and it went to voicemail once more and then she decided to try the home number that his mother had gave her and it said about the fact that the number wasn't in use anymore. So here Molly was without a way to contact her husband._

 _It was their anniversary and there was no way she could get in touch with him and she was starting to freak out a little bit inside. She rang Robert's number and the lovely guy answered and said that he was at work but he was definitely sure that Charles had said he was going to the house to fix their sink tap._

 _Molly had to calm down so she went home and knew that Charles would get in touch with her at some point and when he did well she was going to tell him off for turning his phone off._

 _When she got home she tried again but the phone was still off so she decided to start prepping for their meal. They hadn't planned to go out but rather stay in and spend the evening together but she knew that she would have the best news for him._

 _They were having a baby._

 _In Bath Charles hadn't got anything from Molly so he assumed that she wasn't finished with whatever errand she had to be doing so when Brenda and Maria turned up he stayed and had a natter with them but all the time his mind was on his phone. He had been tempted to ring her but he knew what Molly was like when he disturbed her shopping. So he didn't call her, instead he joined in conversations with the three women and ended up doing other things around the house._

 _As the day got later she started to cook dinner and she even lit the candles that she had brought especially for dinner. It might sound really sickeningly romantic but it was their anniversary and she wanted it to be special._

 _The evening got later and later and Molly couldn't help but feel the worst feeling in the pit of her stomach so when she felt her mobile vibrating in her hand and saw the words Charles come up she didn't take the call but rather she blew the candles out and put the dinner in the bin._

 _It was only a few minutes after that he walked in the door and she was in the kitchen. In their kitchen it was smaller than the one his parents had so that was their main eating area, the kitchen was a kitchen diner so it meant they would eat here. So when Charles had found her in the kitchen with half a melted candle and the table being cleared up he knew that things were definitely not alright here._

 _"I've been trying to get hold of you" he said and watched Molly who had her back to him._

 _"That makes two of us" Molly replied and looked at him. "I have been trying to call you since two this afternoon and it kept going to voicemail"_

 _"I had my phone on, it was on the table and there wasn't any missed calls" he said._

 _Molly scoffed and shooked her head. "Are you saying I'm lying now?"_

 _"No, I'm just saying that my mobile has been on all afternoon and I've not had any missed calls from you"_

 _While she had been sitting at the table she had come to the end of her tether "I.. can't do this anymore" she muttered and chewed on her lip. "This is just getting too much, your mother is coming in between us and she's making our lives so fucking miserable and I don't want to be here anymore"_

 _"Molly, come on, lets eat; you're probably hungry and you will feel better after eating" Charles moved towards her but she moved away._

 _"I won't feel better after eating because I have reached the end and I have to go, your mother wants you to be with Maria then so be in but I'm so done" she put the tea-towel down and walked out the kitchen and up towards the main bedroom._

 _"Molly, don't do this" he said and walked up after her._

 _Molly grabbed her suitcase and started to put her stuff in there. "I have no choice but to do this because if not I will end up resenting you later on" she admitted and looked at him. "And I don't want that, I don't want to be miserable in my marriage and I am, I'm so unhappy and it's all down to your mother" she made sure that she had all her hair products._

 _There was another reason why she was doing this too and that was down to the fact that she didn't want to raise her child with a grandmother like Pam, because she could just imagine her doting on Sam and hating their child because of the fact that Molly was it's mother. No she had to go and whatever happened after that happened._

 _"But.. I love you" he told her. Charles gently grabbed hold of her to turn her, she looked up at him and he wanted to hold on to his wife. His mother definitely wasn't an easy person and he had told her that one more poor treatment of Molly then he would make sure that she didn't see him again and honestly he had been so blindesided by it today that he hadn't even realised what his mother had done._

 _"It's not enough, not anymore" she said and pulled away before throwing the rest of her stuff in the suitcase. If there was anything else that she needed then she would get it when he was out to avoid scenes like this. Molly managed to shut her suitcase and then took it downstairs, grabbed her car keys and walked out the house._

 _"Molly!" he said and pulled the door open and walked out in to the rain but Molly was in the car already. "Molly!" he yelled this time but she had started the engine and was backing away from the house._

 _Molly's heart was pounding hard in her chest and she was shivering from the coldness of the rain and from the uncried tears or maybe she was crying she couldn't really tell because the water running from her hair was running down her face too. Really she was in no fit state to drive and she didn't get that far anyway. Molly went and slept in Sarah's spare room._

 _The next morning she headed back to London and then finally broke down in her mum's arms and told her everything. Including the fact that she was going to be a grandmother._

 **End of Flashback 2**

There was silence in the jeep for a moment because it felt like Bones was trying to wrap his head around what had gone down. "That is..."

"Fucked up?" she asked and glanced over at him once more. "Big time and that is why I tried to keep Adam away from Charles for as long as I could so that my son wouldn't have to suffer at the hands of that bitch" Molly was worried about what would happen now especially when she would eventually have to tell Charles of Adam's existence. Something that she wasn't looking forward to if she's honest.

"But knowing her she will probably try to take me to the courts because I didn't let her see her grandson" Molly shook her head and looked back out the window. It was only then that she realised they were in a different part to where they had been before. "Not going back to the camp?"

"The whole section has been moved out so you're all somewhere else and will be going home after a little decompression" he grinned. "Beers, bikinis, I am so there"

"Yes, you would look good in a bikini but I'm not sure Spanner would" she said quickly and then grinned over at him.

The drive lasted about another twenty minutes more and then they were pulling into the private driveway of a building and she was glad to be out of the camp and off the camp bed. "Thanks for coming to get me today" she said and turned to look at him.

"Just doing my duty" he turned the jeep off and then got out. This place wasn't so bad but he would rather be on a beach right now, sunning it up and having a nice beer but of course with them still being on duty he knew there was no way they would get any beers.

Molly chewed on her lip before she got out the passenger side, Bones was waiting for her and they walked in together and there was her team. They were waiting for her apart from Captain James of course, she was well aware of the fact that he wasn't there. She got hugs from her boys and it felt nice to be back with her section.

Molly was aware of eyes on her and she looked up and caught the eyes of her Captain but also she caught the eyes of the man who she had promised to love for the rest of her life but his mother put a stop to that. She looked away first and then moved from the lobby and was thankful at the fact that she had her own room. That they had brought her stuff with them and that she wouldn't have to be sharing with Richards.

They gave her the key to her room and she headed up straight away. They would probably want to debrief her but for now she shut the door behind her and took the picture out of her pocket. "I'll be home soon sweetheart" she whispered and kissed the picture before she moved away from the door and over on to her bed.


	13. Chapter 13

Molly went in for her debriefing and it felt like a waste of time because there didn't seem to be anyone that she recognised on the database but she did give as much as she could especially when she wanted to make sure that this didn't happen. When people travelled they should be safe but that definitely wasn't the case.

They had helped as much as they could here; someone else would be taking over the relief aid so that they could concentrate on this and then they would be heading home and that was literally the best news she had heard.

The debriefing was over and she had given as much information as she could give. Most of the time they had been kept in the cages other than when they came to get them to change she hadn't seen anything other than the dark room that they had been in and only then she could really give small information on the people that had been checking the girls out especially when she had only seen a few men.

Molly was still thankful that she had come across Peanut because it frightened her to think that she might not be here right now if he hadn't found her.

After Molly left the room she grabbed herself a bottle of water and found that as she was trying to open the bottle that her hand was shaking. This really was the worst time to be going through this especially when she wanted to go home unaffected by this but something told her that she wasn't actually going to get away with that idea.

Molly finally managed to take a drink and it was only when she had put the top back on the bottle and was turning away from the machine that she bumped in to someone and looked up into the face of Charles and her heart gave a heavy thump.

Other than being in the meeting room together, with the others of course, they hadn't been in the same room since the hospital ward the day before and it felt like he was trying to avoid her but she guessed that was down to the fact that he was being a total twat. He had walked in on something that wasn't what it had sounded like and now he was having a jealous moment like he had with Smurf.

He had ended up being wrong then too.

Even though Molly and Bones _had_ dated they weren't now and that was clearly what he had assumed that they were talking about and he couldn't be more wrong but who was she to tell him otherwise especially when he probably wouldn't listen?

"Sorry" she finally said and moved back away from him before she cleared her throat.

"My fault, I snuck up on you which was the worst thing you can do to someone that has been through what you have" he nodded once.

"We bumped in to each other, sir, it's not like you decided to actually make me jump because I'm pretty sure that then I really would have brought out the Karate moves"

"You know Karate?" Captain James asked and for a moment was being serious.

"No, I'm pretty sure I would hurt myself if I did attempt it though" she gave him a smile but he didn't smile back. The smile slowly slid from her lips and she looked away.

Molly has been in some awkward positions but this has got to be the worst.

What they didn't realise was that Bones was watching them from one of the higher floors and while he wanted to actually be with Molly; he also wanted to bang their heads together and get them to talk. Even if the Captain was a twat.

"You're doing it again," she said after a moment and looked back at him.

"Doing what?" He asked.

"You're acting like a jealous man when you really don't need to be" She knew that she shouldn't be saying any of that here but she wanted to make sure that he understood a little that he didn't need to be jealous.

"It's like Smurf all over again" Molly continued.

He licked his bottom lip before he put his hands on his hips, a sigh fell from his lips. "I'm not sure we should be talking about this right now because we're still overseas and still on duty..."

Molly was about to say something but then there was another voice and that belonged to Fingers.

"So are we getting any R&R then, Bossman?"

"I think you mean, can we finally drink?" Captain James turned and looked at Fingers, a slight smile pulling at his lips.

"Well _yeah_ " Fingers smiled himself.

"Really can't take you pissheads anywhere" Molly said over at Fingers before she moved away from her spot and away from the two that were talking.

"You love us, Mols" Fingers called from his spot and just about caught her finger that she had put up before she had disappeared around a corner. He grinned at that before shaking his head.

Molly knew that she had to tell Charles about Adam but being in Sierra Leone definitely wasn't the right place to do that. She wasn't even sure how he would react back home at least here there were people who would stop him from being overboard but back in the UK.. well it would just be the two of them and she wasn't sure if she could really deal with that, maybe that is why she walked away as much as she could because at least then there wouldn't be no awkwardness with them.

When he had first come to her asking her to be their medic they had even flirted a bit but after finding Bones at her bedside she was sure that would put a halt to anything back home. Not that she could really get involved with him again, his mother was still a huge issue between the two of them. They hadn't really sat down and talked about it but she had told him the day that he signed the divorce papers that she just wanted a fresh start away from his mother and he gave her that.

It was a big reason why she hadn't told him about Adam either, how Charles was going to react would be nothing compared to how his mother would react when she finds out that Charles and Molly had conceived a child. For a while after she had left she would think about ringing him up just to hear his voice, just to check in or to text him to say that she missed him because she did so damn much but she couldn't do that to him. Couldn't get his hopes up if she couldn't go back.

She wasn't even sure what would happen after she told him.

They were granted some R&R and it meant that Molly could have a break for a couple of days and the first thing she did was get changed. She loved her uniform, missed it when she didn't have it on but on R&R they didn't have to wear it which meant they could wear normal clothes.

-.-

That night she walked out of her room and could hear the boys of her section and a couple of the boys from SF laughing and it was the most amazing sound but at the same time it made her want to go back to her room for a little bit of safety. If there was one group of men that she never wanted to go up against it was SF because they _really_ enjoyed what they did.

Molly knew that she was safe here but at the same time she still felt so scared, she was surrounded by the men of the best Special Forces in the world but at the same time she wanted to be hidden in her bed with the duvet pulled over her head. Something that she has never wanted to do before, not even when she got back from Afghan. She had gone on a deep clean of the kitchen but this time there was no way to tell just what she would do.

"Come and join us, Molly!" Brains called up to her when they saw her coming down the stairs.

"What join you pissheads? I'm not sure that I want to join that" Molly teased back but in honesty she wasn't really in the mood to want to drink. She was itching to get back home so that she could hug her son.

"Ah well suit yourself" Mansfield spoke and smiled.

Molly smiled at him and started to go on a walk to see what was going on in the rest of the hotel and mostly it was just to get her feet moving around the place really because she knew if she stood in one place for too long then she would probably crumble and that is what she felt like doing but she wasn't going to do that here.

As she walked deeper into the hotel she found Charles sat at a table with a cuppa in front of him, ever the Englishman.

"Oh dear, that's your thinking shoulders" Molly spoke as she leaned against the door of the dining room and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I should really stop thinking especially when I look a bit predictable especially with the shoulders" he looked up and over at Molly. When she left he would've given anything to have her back and still would.

Molly moved away from the door frame and into the dining room a bit more before she sat down at the table that he was sitting at. "What's wrong?" she wanted to know what was going on inside his head.

"When you were taken I blamed myself for bringing you here and for a moment I had wished that it had been someone else, that it hadn't been you I had asked because at least if you were back in the UK then you were safe"

Molly chewed on her lip "I don't think it really would've mattered who you brought over with you, they would've taken either your medic or Richards" she muttered. "So you would still be feeling the same no matter what"

"Are you really dating Bones?" he asked out of nowhere and watched her.

"No, I'm not dating Bones but.. I did" Molly knew it would be better to be honest because at least that way they could get that out in the open. "I know it's not something you wanted to hear but you should know the truth because there is no point in skirting around it right now"

Charles was quiet for a while because it hadn't been something that he wanted to hear but at least they weren't dating now. "We have a lot to talk about don't we?" he looked over at her again and she nodded at him. "I thought so"

"But doing it here while we're in another country really isn't the best idea; we should talk about everything back home" Mostly because she wasn't sure how he would actually respond to finding out about Adam but she guessed that that was her own fault for keeping them apart for so long. Molly wasn't even expecting it to go too well either. So they might as well talk about it when they get home.

She was worried about what would happen and actually hoped that it wouldn't be too bad but she would accept it no matter what happens.

"Hows the tea?" Molly asked and nudged her head towards the cup sitting in front of him.

"I really could do with a coffee"

"Didn't have your coffee machine shipped out this time then?"

"Nope especially when we would probably be ships in the night and I will definitely need it back home" He smiled softly.

Molly couldn't help but smile herself especially when she knew that he really couldn't go without his morning coffee and knowing that his machine was still back in the UK made him sound really brave. "I thought you weren't a full functioning soldier until you've had your first shot of coffee?"

"Well I've had to have it injected in to me while I've been away"

"I can honestly see that" Molly admitted. "Wait does that mean I'm going to have to inject it in to you?"

"Well yeah you are the medic on this trip"

Molly playfully groaned but she was actually liking this banter and would rather take this than grumpy or even mad Captain James.

If R&R was going to continue to be like this then maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all and the last thing she wanted was for Bones and Captain James to go at it with one another but maybe things were going to be okay? Maybe they could get back home without any fights happening between the two or horrible words exchanged.

The two of them sat and talked for awhile about different things and it felt nice and familiar and Molly could do with familiar right now but she also had Adam hanging over her head and things were going to get a little bit awkward if her parents turned up at Brize Norton with her son in tow.

But it was passed time that she told him about their son and really whatever he done after that would really be understandable especially when she hadn't told Charles about Adam.

It was only when she got to her room later that evening that there was a knock at the door. She moved to the door and opened it to see who was on the other side. Molly chewed on her lip for a moment before she moved out of the way to let him in.

Then she shut the door.


	14. Chapter 14

The sound of the plane had quietened everything inside of it, she looked to her left and saw that most of them were asleep and then she looked to her right and her eyes caught on Captain James and he then looked away and she chewed on her lip before shaking her head.

Molly leaned her head back against the wall of the plane and closed her eyes but she just couldn't stop thinking about what had gone down in her room when she had opened the door. This was going to make things so much difficult and that was the last thing that she had even wanted but she guessed that she deserved it.

-Who came into her room-

 _Molly knew that it probably wasn't best to have him in her room while they were in another country, sure they were on R &R but still if they got found out then they could get in to trouble. _

_They had sat and talked for a long time while in the dining room but letting him in to her room wasn't exactly the best idea but that didn't stop her from moving out of the way so that he could come in._

 _He was talking about something or other; Molly could see his lips moving but she wasn't really listening and that was probably the worst bit because she was just staring at him while they were sat down. He was on the chair at the dressing table and she was on the bed._

 _The two thoughts going through her head right now was how beautiful he still was, it was funny to think of men as being beautiful but he really was, and the second was that she had to tell him about Adam. It was getting to the point where it was starting to want to scream out of her and if she didn't say it now then she would probably get an angry Charles on her when she finally did tell him. Hell she probably would get one now._

 _In the middle of the sentence she finally blurted out her secret, one she had kept for a while. One that she should never have kept from him in the first place. "We have a son"_

 _Charles stopped short on his sentence and he watched her for a moment and was quiet._

 _Molly continued on though "His name is Adam and I was pregnant when I left you and I-" she was stopped short by him then speaking._

 _"I'm sorry I thought I heard you say that we had a son" he wanted to laugh but at the moment he wasn't sure what he should really be thinking because the Molly he knew wouldn't keep this from him. She wouldn't keep something so big like this from him._

 _But Molly didn't laugh, didn't throw her hands up and shout 'joke'. Her face was completely serious and that's what made it so much more worse and he stood up for a moment and put his hands on his hips. "So when you walked out the door you were actually carrying my baby.. that is just.." Charles didn't know what to really say but shouting right now seemed like the thing he really shouldn't be doing especially when everyone could hear the conversation._

 _"You could've told me" he angrily and looked at her. "and now my son has never known his father and you want to tell me while we're on tour that is the worst thing you could've done" Charles kept his eyes on her and then something hit him like a train "Did Bones know about Adam?" he asked and knew the answer right away; of course he did which meant that for the first however many months of his life his son was brought up by Bones McClyde and that is almost just as bad as knowing that he had a son that he didn't know about._

 _"I can explain" she said standing up from the bed and held her hands up._

 _"Really? What can you say that will explain any of this?" he waited for what Molly was going to say "Thought not" he moved away from where he was standing and opened the door and walking out he slammed the door._

 _Molly winced at the loud slam of the door and she sighed wishing that she had left it til they got back on home soil but she knew that it would've just been the same. The same reaction or even worse than that. "Shit" she said loudly and turned away from the door. She had expected something like this to happen but she never thought that she would blurt it out while on an aid mission._

It had felt like days without someone speaking on the plane but it hadn't been that long at all. Molly had wondered just what Charles had done after leaving her room especially when she hadn't gone to look for him after that moment, she didn't want the rest of the guys to know that something was up but they weren't stupid and knew that something had been wrong.

Neither Captain James nor Molly had said the real reason about what was going on and she was glad about that because she couldn't stand the thought of this getting around the rest of the section. They would speak in public when the other members of the section were around but he didn't want to speak to her alone and she thought that that was understandable especially with the news that she had given him and then to find out that Bones had been a part of Adam's life and he hadn't.

If she's honest she would be happier to get off this plane and back onto the ground at Brize Norton, Molly had left a message for her mum to tell her that they were heading home. She would be glad to sleep in her own bed and to hug her son. It did make her wonder if Belinda would bring Adam to Brize or whether Nan would just drive the two of them.

Charles sat down the other end away from Molly and he was lost in his thoughts, it was now that he would sit and think about everything, it was this time that he would think of home, of Sam, of _Molly_ but right now he still was so angry that she had kept their son a secret from him.

Yeah okay his wife and his mother didn't get on but Molly still could've told him.

It felt like everything he knew had been turned upside down. He had gone to get Molly so that she could join them on this tour but it had just gone from bad to worse and right now he wasn't sure what he was going to do. What had set him on edge too had been the argument that Molly and Maisie had had before they left the hotel.

He looked down and saw Molly was looking in his direction and he turned his head away from her to look forward once more. Charles really couldn't look at her right now, he wasn't even sure he could forgive her for this.

That didn't stop him from looking in her direction once more and found that she had closed her eyes. Trying to get sleep on this plane was a lost cause because of the fact that it was much louder than normal planes and not only that it was really uncomfortable too.

-.-

When they finally landing in Brize Norton Molly was actually glad to be on the ground, more than that she was glad she would be away from Richards and she wouldn't have to feel Charles' anger from the other end of the plane. Of course she knew that this wouldn't be the end of their interaction even if at the moment he was really pissed off with her.

They got off the plane and Molly took a deep breath before for the first time it felt like she could breathe and it wasn't exactly the best feeling if she's honest. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest at the worry of what could lay on the otherside of the doors that they were about to walk through. Had her mother brought Adam and rubbed it into Charles' nose that much more?

Molly had sent a message to her mother not long before they had left and told her that Charles knew and it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Back on British soil, feels good doesn't it Dawesy?" Mansfield said to her and she smiled over at him.

"You off to Buck Palace now to see Granny?" Fingers teased as he stepped off of the plane too.

"Har har" Mansfield rolled his eyes.

"I will not miss you piss-taking shitheads" Molly said and looked over at the team and smiled.

"Not coming on another tour with us then?" Brains asked.

"Probably not" Molly wasn't sure if she would be asked back but who knows maybe one day she would go out on another tour with these guys but she doubts it will be anytime soon.

Molly looks over at Charles who was staring at her and she sighs softly before she looks away and back to the others before she walks with them in to the building and there were this feeling in her stomach that she wasn't able to keep away and that was dread. She knew she hurt Charles very badly but she didn't want him to have to relive the moment here.

She rounded the corner and saw the families waiting and for a moment she couldn't see anyone for her and she smiled when she saw her mother. Molly moved over to her mum and put her kit on the floor before she hugged Belinda tightly. It had felt like a long time since they had seem each other and for a moment she wanted to cry but she didn't. Instead she kept her composure because the last thing she wanted was anyone seeing her cry. Molly pulled back and smiled at her mother. "I am so glad that you're here" She admitted and nodded.

"With your text I thought it was best if we didn't bring Adam"

"We?" Molly asked, it was then she looked over at the seats and saw Nan and it felt so good to be home.

"Nan drove again" Belinda commented and then said "How was it? When you told him?"

"Awful and I think it's only going to get worst but I suppose that is what I get for keeping Adam a secret for so long" Molly looked over her shoulder to see if he had come in yet but it looked like he hadn't either that or he was making sure to leave after she had gone.

"Dawesy I'll text you later, yeah?" Fingers called over to her "see if we can get you back with us for more fun"

"Text me all you like but I won't answer" Molly smiled at him to which Fingers winked at her.

If she's being honest she had missed the guys a lot more than she would like to admit, she wasn't going to tell them that she did miss them because that would just be feeding their egos and that was the last thing Molly wanted to do.

"You're breaking my heart here, Molly" Fingers teased.

"I feel sorry for you" she teased back but then turned to her mum and Nan and honestly wanted to get out of here. Molly grabbed her kit and then started to walk out with Belinda and Nan and waved to the others. "Don't forget to get me into Buck Palace, Mansfield"

The three women laughed as they walked out and for the first time in a while she felt like she could have a laugh with the guys. It had been a long time since they had actually been together and now that they had gone on a relief aid mission she felt like she fitted back with them again.

Molly put her kit into the boot of the car and she looked back towards the building that they had just exited and she wondered that with her being home what sort of hell she would get from this end. She wasn't sure what the UK would actually have in store for her but Molly felt her journey had only just began with Charles. It felt like there was more to come from what she had told him. Molly would rather have told him when they got back on British soil but blurting it out in her room while on R&R hadn't been the intention especially when she had let him in to her room and she couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next.

She waited as long as she could but it wasn't Charles coming out of the main doors when they opened but some of the other men and Molly knew she couldn't stand around here forever so she got into the car and put her seat belt on.

On the drive home she started to text Charles but everything she said just kept getting deleted because what _could_ she say? Like he said back in her room, what could she say to explain any of it?

Sorry only seemed lame but right now that felt like it was the only thing she really could say. But instead she locked her phone and put it in her trouser pocket.


	15. Chapter 15

When Charles got home he put his keys on the bowl by the door and put his bags in the bedroom and was actually glad to be home.

A lot had happened on this tour and he wasn't sure just how any of it was going to affect him going forward especially with Molly but he had a son, another son, and this time had hadn't known about him until recently.

What would he have done if he had known? Charles would've made sure that he fought more for his wife.

What also hurt was the fact that Bones McClyde had known about his son and it looked like he had played a part in his life and he wasn't sure what else to feel other than hurt.

Charles knew what his mother would say when he finally told her, she would tell him to go for full custody of a son he didn't even know about until recently. The last thing he wanted to do was go to court with Molly; he grabbed his mobile out and thought about texting her or ringing or at least doing something but every time he went to actually do it he felt the anger flair up inside of him once more.

So instead he put his phone to one side and decided to get himself a cup of tea because at the moment that felt like the only thing that could actually fix any of this.

-.-

Molly was happy to be home, alway from Sierra Leone and back to her family, she had been itching to get off that plane and would've jumped out if it got her any closer to her son.

When she got out of her Nan's car she grinned when Adam ran towards her and Molly picked him up and hugged him close to her. After what had happened in Sierra Leone it had made her think about life here and that was why she told Charles in the end about their son, a little boy who was clutched to her and this was the homecoming that she hoped she would have but wasn't sure she would actually get.

A part of her wanted to cry but the other half of her didn't want Adam to see her crying because she wasn't sure how to explain it to her son. But she was glad to be home.

Molly wasn't sure what was going to happen from now especially when Charles knew and no doubt his mother would find out at some point and she knew that there would be fireworks and a lot of shouting no doubt. If she could work it out with Charles then maybe it would work out for all of them, she knows she kept him from their son for all these years but Molly would never stop him from seeing Adam now if he wanted. It was a bit late for him to have been there from the beginning but it was never too late for him to have a connection with Adam now.

"I missed you" Molly spoke softly and smiled down at Adam.

"I missed you too, mummy" Adam looked back up at her and let a smile pull at his small lips.

Molly, Nan, Belinda and Adam went into the house and they sat at the table while having a cuppa.

"So what are you going to do?" Nan asked Molly

"I don't know, at the moment he's in shock and definitely angry but if I reach out to him it could make things worse and that is the last thing I want, I know I screwed up Nan, I should've told him in the beginning and then none of this would be happening"

"You know that all of us are behind you 100% Molls" Belinda said and then reached over and took her daughter's hand.

"Thanks mum, I just wish I could talk to him and maybe we could just get it sorted out between the two of us rather than drag this through the courts"

"You don't know that he's going to do that" Nan shook her head once.

"Charles might not but you could almost guarantee that his mother would want to do that especially when she finds out" Molly sighed and grabbed her cup with her other hand and then squeezed Belinda's hand gently and gave her a soft smile.

Molly looked over at her son playing with his toys and wanted to protect him from all of this, Nan was right they didn't know that Charles would drag it through the courts but if she was him then wouldn't she do that? Molly wasn't sure what she would do if she was him and then there was Bones and she knew that he would be on her side but the last thing she wanted to do was drag him into her drama too.

Maybe she would give it a couple of days and then ring Charles if he hadn't rang her by then, or come to her place that is.

Could Adam actually bring them back together again or would all of this actually rip them apart even further than his mother had already done so?

Molly knew that he was going to be angry with her for a little bit and she didn't blame him at all.

Dave had started to say something but if she's honest she didn't really let it pass her ears because of the fact she was in her own world but unfortunately it wasn't about Charles this time but what had happened back at the compound in Sierra Leone and she swallowed hard.

Her heart was pounding fast and she wanted it to stop and it only did when Belinda saw the look on her face and managed to break her thoughts and Molly has never been so grateful to not be in that headspace right now.

"Are you alright, Molly?" Belinda was starting to worry because she had remembered the look on Molly's face when she got back from Afghan and how she had broken down in the kitchen after cleaning it up and admitting that she was dying inside.

"Yeah, I think we should head back, Nan will you give us a lift?" Molly asked and stood up.

"Of course love" she put her cup down but was still looking at her a little strangely because she knew, as well as Belinda, that something was going on and if she was lucky then maybe Molly would tell her in the car on the way home.

After they said their goodbyes they headed off.

-.-

"And you didn't even have any idea?" Elvis asked on the screen, Charlie had just about caught him and he had finally blurted out what was playing on his mind.

"That's the worst thing, I had no idea that she was keeping this from me and I don't know what to do and I am dreading telling my mother especially with how she reacts to things and with it being Molly she will go mad" Charles was glad to be finally telling someone because it had been playing on his mind and there was only one person who he could tell right now and he was on the screen.

"Wow you have another kid and it's another boy, congratulations?" Elvis asked because he wasn't sure what he was meant to have said after that.

"Did you know about this?" Charles asked finally and watched his best friend on the laptop screen "You would tell me if you knew about this, right?"

"Hey, I've been busy here since me and Georgie got married, I haven't really spoken to anyone other than people here but I'm sure if I knew about Molly then I would've told you or at least hinted at you to get in touch with her at least, as for Georgie I honestly have no idea, she doesn't tell me anything"

Charles sighed and pulled on his bottom lip with his thumb and forefinger and stared out the window that was next to him.

"What are you going to do?" Elvis asked after a moment of watching him staring out the window like the beautiful man that he was.

"I don't know what to do, a lot of stuff is going around my head at the moment and it's like I can't stop thinking about any of it." Charles admitted.

"Well you want to work that out first because the last thing you want to do is start a fight with Molly and unless you really have to I wouldn't even consider getting the courts involved in this"

Charles looked at Elvis for a moment and then said "I would never do that to Molly or my son and I will make sure that my mother doesn't do that either"

The two of them then moved the conversation away from Molly and Adam and to how Elvis was doing at Hereford and Elvis had teased him about trying out for SF and of course Charles said that he would kick Elvis' ass if he did. The reason he didn't try out for SF wasn't because he didn't think that he would actually pass selection, it would be very likely that he would but he was happy where he was.

Sure SF saw more of the world but at the same time Charles knew that he could do more where he was than with SF. Plus he didn't want to even give Elvis the satisfaction of seeing him try out.

After the conversation was over he decided to go and have a shower and some food before deciding to get some sleep, but it seemed to avoid him and he found himself staring at the wardrobe and when he couldn't take it anymore he turned the light on before getting out of bed and going over to the damn wardrobe.

Charles reached up for the box, women weren't the only ones with boxes of their pasts in their wardrobe, before sitting back on his bed.

He sat looking through the pictures that he had collected along the way and then he came to a picture of Molly and he remembered it so clearly. It was from their Honeymoon, she looked so beautiful with her hair down and a white dress that covered the bikini she had on underneath and a tiara of flowers on top of her head, she's smiling.

" _What are you doing?_ " _Molly said through a laugh when he raised his camera to take a picture of her._

" _Taking a picture of my beautiful wife_ " _Charles snapped the picture before he stood up and they took a selfie this time and it was of them kissing and he didn't care if anyone was staring because this was his wife and he was more than damn proud of that fact and he wanted the rest of the world to know that._

Charles found the other picture and across those miles Molly was doing the same.

They had to work this out between the both of them.

-.-

 **Yes, tis I. I have found a way to unblock that hole and hopefully I will be able to keep up with this story more now.**

 **Thank you for being patient with me and waiting for my return to this story.**

 **Molly and Charles need their heads banging together and being told to sit down and talk!**


	16. Chapter 16

A Few Days Later

Molly looked out the window of the cafe that she was sat in with her cup of tea on the table in front of her and she watched people walk passed and couldn't help but wonder if he would actually turn up.

He was running late but she knew that he couldn't help it as the traffic was crap or he had to do something at last minute but honesty she wished that he had told her that he was going to be late.

Molly hadn't ordered him a drink but she had herself because she needed the tea to steady her nerves, she wished it was something stronger but the last thing she needed was to be drunk sat across from her ex husband and they talked, that definitely wouldn't give him the best impression of her; even if he already knew pretty much everything there was about her.

The small bell above the door rang as the door opened and Charles walked in and over to the table, Molly looked over at him with a soft smile on her lips, "I am so sorry that I was late, I don't make a habit of it I promise" he sat down at the table.

"Working at the MOD today?" Molly asked as she sat up in her seat a little better than she had been when he had walked in.

"Yep" he admitted and then looked up when a waitress walked over to their table "I'll have a coffee please, Molly?" he asked looking over at her.

"Oh, um, no I'm fine with what I have, thanks" she smiled at the girl and watched as she walked off but of course couldn't help but see the other female looking back at Charles, well who wouldn't, right?

There was silence between the two and they looked at each other and Molly wished that he would actually say _something_ because of the fact that it was starting to make her feel a little bit nervous and then he was about to speak but the young girl came over and brought his coffee over.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything else?" The waitress, Emily, asked and looked between the both of them once more.

Molly shook her head and Charles smiled but politely said no before the girl walked back to her station at the front and they were alone again.

Molly leaned forward and put her arms on the table, it was rude to do that but right now she needed to be able to keep herself sitting up like this, and then said softly "Whatever it is, Charles, please can you just spit it out because I would rather get this conversation over with than wonder what you are actually going to say"

Charles took a deep breath and then said "I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get in touch, I have just had a lot to deal with especially finding out that I have another son, I needed to let that sink it and that's what's taken me so long to ring" he admitted and watched her.

Molly was still so beautiful that he honestly wished they hadn't actually broken up but if she wasn't happy then how could he make her stay with him? How could he put her through all of that? But he did wish that she had told him about the fact that she had been pregnant when she left because he would've tried his hardest to work out with her how they were going to share their son.

Molly shook her head and then said "Honestly it's okay, I know that I should've told you way before that and I didn't and for that I really do apologise for that on my part" she admitted and then chewed on her lip. "I know that you have missed out on a lot and for that again I really am sorry" she nodded and him.

He was sure that's what he found hard, it wasn't the fact that they had a son, it was down to the fact that she hadn't told him all that time. That _no one_ had told him that he had another son. Apparently Elvis didn't know about it but if he's honest he found that a little bit hard to believe especially when Georgie and Molly were friends and there was Facebook, there was no way that Molly would've been able to keep Adam a secret but clearly she had, for a long time.

Molly looked out the window for a moment and watched a woman walk passed with her child in a pram and remembered those days, remembered how small Adam had felt in her arms when she first held on to him, how he had looked up at her and how he had held on to her as he grew up. She cleared her throat before looking back at Charles "Have you told your mum about Adam?"

Charles shook his head "I don't really know how to bring it up to be honest, my mother is..."

"Difficult?" Molly asked and let a soft smile pull at her lips.

"Well I would've said something else but sure let's just go with difficult" he muttered to her before smiling and picking up his cup to take a drink of his coffee.

Molly wanted to laugh but she's not sure now would be the right time to actually do that but she did feel a grin pulling at her lips that she wasn't able to stop at all. "Sure, we'll go with difficult" she said with the grin.

She too chewed on her lip for another bit before she finally said "Are you going to take me to court?" Molly needed to know so that she could be prepared.

"No," Charles admitted "that's why I've come to you now so that we can sort this out without any lawyers and without my mother because you know that she would do it that way"

"Even if your child was with me?" Molly asked.

"Even if the child was with you" he confirmed. Maybe that was why he hadn't told her yet because he knew that she would probably go behind his back and go to a lawyer, if they were able to actually sort this out like adults then there wasn't any point to going to the courts so that he could see his son.

"You have to meet him first" Molly admitted and nodded.

It might seem weird but he was nervous about meeting his son because he didn't know who Charles was, Adam didn't know that Charles was his dad but hopefully it wouldn't be so bad.

"You are going to do fine, he loves cars by the way, he gets a new car collection what seems like every day" Molly smiled and then reached down to her bag and grabbed out a brown envelope and then handed it over to him. "I took loads of photos for every occasion so I won't miss anything and I know that you would want them eventually so why not start with these ones" she smiled again when he took the brown envelope from her hands.

Charles opened the envelope and pulled the pictures out and there was quite a lot of pictures and they went from when Adam was born to now and he looked down at the picture of Molly and their son, she was smiling even after giving birth she still looked so beautiful. His heart ached because these were pictures of all the times he had missed out.

There was a picture of Molly holding Adam on her hip and she was dressed up as a pirate and he held it up to show her and couldn't help but grin.

"It was Halloween and we went to a party and I went as a pirate" Molly admitted and if she was being honest then it was the most fun she has had in a long time and even now was glad that she didn't miss it.

"Well you look cute" he put his eyes back down to the pictures and started to go through them once more and would look at them properly when he was at home and then he slowly slid them back into the brown envelope before putting his eyes back on her. "When can I meet Adam?" he asked.

"When do you want to meet him?" Molly took a drink of her tea that was cold now but that didn't seem to matter to her because unfortunately she could drink it either way.

"Tomorrow be too soon?"

Molly shook her head "Nope it's not too soon, I was hoping that you would say that because you two have been separate for too long and now I want you to meet him" she put her cup back down on her saucer and crossed her hands over each other. "I'm glad that we could actually sit down and talk"

"Didn't think that I would?" he asked and watched her. For a while he wasn't sure what he was going to do, he had spoke to Elvis and knew that he would have to sit down with Molly and have a talk and that's why they were here today because he would rather do this face to face and without anyone else there than have this go to court where they wouldn't be able to talk face to face without lawyers getting involved and that wouldn't be fair on Adam at all.

"I thought I had finally pushed you away enough that we couldn't come back from this" Molly didn't want to think about that but there was this huge weight lifted off her shoulders now that she had finally told him about their son and now that they were sat down at the table together talking it made her feel like everything would be okay in the end.

"I'm probably an idiot but nothing you do can really push me away because you are still special to me" Charles wasn't sure if he should say that to her especially with how much weight it actually had underneath it.

"Ditto"

The two of them watched each other for a moment before Molly looked away and down to her tea before she grabbed hold of the cup and finished her drink up. The two of them said more with their stares than they ever did with words so they always knew they were on the same page without having to actually say anything but she knew that it was there, the tension, between them.

The sexual tension that made Molly want to reach across the table and pull him by his shirt and put her lips to his, just to see if they were still as soft as they had been when she last kissed them.

The noise of the cafe pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked towards the windows, her cheeks tinting slightly. The last thing she needed to be doing was undressing Charles, with her mind, while they were having a conversation about their son.

"Unfortunately I have to get back to the MOD" Charles said sadly and watched her, she looked so cute when her cheeks tinted like that so clearly what she was thinking wasn't something that should be said out loud.

"I'm glad that we had this talk and I will definitely see you tomorrow" Molly said with a smile when she looked back at him. She reached into her bag for her purse so that she could pay for her half of the bill but Charles held his hand up, he didn't want her to pay because he was such a gentleman and wanted to make sure that he paid. She rolled her eyes and put her half of the bill down anyway and then said "That stays where it is"

"Yes, Ma'am" Charles grinned before putting his own money down and grabbing the pictures before standing up "You leaving too?" he asked and looked down at her still sitting in her seat.

"Yeah, I have to get back too" she grabbed her bag after putting her purse back away and then stood up, putting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

The two of them walked out of the cafe together but sadly the walk to Molly's car wasn't long enough and he couldn't help the disappointment inside of his chest but he would get over it. Molly unlocked the door and he opened it for her and held on to the door. "You going to be alright driving back?"

Molly put her bag onto the back seat before she turned to look at him once more "Yeah, I think I'll be alright but I will send you a text when I get back so that you know I'm safe" she liked the fact that he still worried about her. It was cute but at the same time she knew that he worried about her even when they were together.

"Please do, so I know that you got home safe"

Molly nodded once before she cleared her throat "I should let you get back to the MOD, sounds like it's a busy time at the moment and you really don't want to get in to trouble for being late"

He smiled before nodding "Yeah because I don't want to make any one angry" he teased at her before patting the top of the door for a moment before he then dropped his hand "I'll let you get going"

Molly moved and then hugged him gently and held on to him for a moment before she pulled back and watched as he leaned in and kissed her cheek softly, his lips definitely felt soft from her cheek but she still wanted to make sure but out here probably wasn't the best idea. She got into her car after her pulled away and then put her seat belt on and he shut the door. Molly used the electric windows when she turned the car on and then said her goodbye before she pulled out on to the main road and she felt the disappointment in her chest that she hadn't kissed him but they had their son to think about and the last thing they wanted was to hurt him if it went wrong.

Charles watched her driving away and he sighed under his breath before shaking his head and walking in the direction of his own car. One thing was for sure, he definitely wasn't over Molly and knew that he wouldn't be for a while and if he played his cards right then maybe they could work things out so that they get back together but first he would just take time with his son as a start.


	17. Chapter 17

If she's being honest she had been dreading this since yesterday but it was time that Adam actually met his dad. Molly had told Bones what had happened over text the night before and in the end they ended up talking on the phone because of she needed to talk to someone.

Today he had sent her a message telling her good luck and that if things go badly then he could always kidnap Charles and keep him until he changes his mind on the situtation. Molly had wanted to laugh but that just made her feel ever the more nervous but sent back an eye-rolling emoji instead. Bones had replied with a grinning one and told her that everything would be okay and that she needed to relax.

This was actually the most supportive anyone has been when it came to Charles and she knew the two of them didn't get on for whatever reason.

Molly had told her mother this morning that Charles was coming round to finally meet Adam and she wished her luck and Molly felt like she was going to need it right now, meeting at Molly's place would make sense because she wanted her son to actually be comfortable with meeting Charles not that he would know straight off who he actually was.

Molly cleaned around the flat to make sure that everything was tidy but at the same time she wanted it to look like a normal home. Not that Charles would actually worry about what her place looked like because he was here for a meeting with his son. She found herself then starting to worry over whether he had told his mother but with the lack of her coming around to Molly's flat she had guessed that he hadn't told her since yesterday and that was somewhat comforting.

She made sure that Adam had had something to eat and Molly put him in front of the TV so that she could finish cleaning up and putting the washing away. It was on her way to getting a cuppa when she saw that Adam had got his cars out and was pushing them around the floor in the front room and she couldn't help but smile because it was just so like him.

He wasn't interested in what was on the TV because he had his cars and was pushing them around.

As the time passed Molly was starting to get worried again that something wouldn't go to plan, that Adam wouldn't want anything to do with Charles. He didn't know the man but she hoped that he would pick up on something but being that young then maybe not?

She wasn't sure how all of this would go but for the first time she just wanted everything to go right, it had been hard enough when she was in Sierra Leone and away from her boy and she wanted this to go right. Because they needed the good luck.

Molly had just settled for a cuppa when the door went and like every time Adam ran to the door and she took a deep breath and followed after, luckily he wasn't tall enough to reach the handle so when Molly opened the door and came face to face with Charles she felt a relief that he was in fact on his own.

Adam was looking around his mother's leg at Charles and Molly reached down and ruffled his dark hair before smiling at him and then letting Charles in and shutting the door behind him.

"I didn't know whether to bring anything but I brought you some flowers" Charles smiled and handed them over to her.

Molly smiled back at them and really wasn't the type that wanted flowers all the time but there had been times where she found them on the table in a vase waiting for her when she got back from a trip overseas. "Well thank you, you didn't have to buy any but they are pretty"

She looked down at the little boy who Charles had looked at now "This is Adam" she said.

Charles crouched down so that he was the same height as Adam and said with a soft smile "Hello Adam" looking at him Charles could see Sam in him but also there were bits of Molly too, his hair however was curly like his. A perfect mixture of both parents and his brother.

"Say hello" Molly urged him but she knew that Adam would do things when _he_ was ready. She watched as he then moved from behind her leg and ran into the front room. Molly sighed softly and watched as Charles stood up "He gets shy, he will warm up to you, I promise" she nodded and then nudged her head in the direction of the kitchen "I will put these in water if you want to either sit in the front room, unfortunately Paw Patrol is on and it's starting to drive me around the bend"

Charles laughed softly "Well at least it's not Baby Shark"

Molly grimaced at the thought, she had heard so much about that song and was thankful that Adam hadn't got in to it just yet "Trust me, that won't be playing here" Saying that she had heard her mother humming it so she guessed it was only a matter of time before that silly song was playing through the flat.

She moved away from the hallway and into the kitchen and grabbed a vase from underneath the sink and she smelt the flowers. They smelt pretty good but then again Charles was always so good at picking out flowers. Molly took them out of their wrapper and made sure they were short enough to go into the water and they were but put the food in first then the flowers and as she was putting them on the table she looked up and saw Charles by the door of the kitchen. "So, did you get any sleep last night?" she asked.

"I was nervous about meeting Adam" he admitted and then leaned against the frame of the door.

"I'm not surprised" Molly couldn't imagine what it felt like to meet the son he didn't know about until now. She made him a drink and then handed over the mug.

"I looked through those pictures that you had given me and you both looked happy" he said and looked down at the mug he now had in his hand and was standing up straight. Charles hadn't meant that she looked unhappy now but they looked happy without him being there.

Molly watched him for a moment; that definitely hadn't been something she had expected him to say when they were in the same room and he was here for Adam. "He was a happy baby, and I was happy that he was happy" she admitted and continued to watch him because she felt like this was leading up to something bigger and she wasn't sure if she wanted to even go down that route, especially if it ended with him saying something that he might regret later on.

Thankfully he didn't say anything that would make that even worse and instead he smiled at her before he cleared his throat and the two of them moved from the kitchen and into the front room.

Adam was sat on the floor with his toys and Charles put his cup down on the coffee table and took his coat off. He was dressed in normal clothes rather than his uniform and Molly had to admit that she definitely liked seeing him in the uniform more than normal clothes. Molly sat down in the chair and watched as Charles sat down on the floor with Adam. She wished that she had told him about Adam in the beginning because at least then they would have the father/son relationship that he had with Sam and then things wouldn't be so worrying right now.

Adam looked up at Charles when he sat down on the floor and smiled at him, the soft cheeky smile that Sam had and it melted Molly's heart because Sam and Adam were the two boys that she loved so much and she couldn't wait for them to meet but first Charles had to strike up a relationship with the boy first before everyone else was brought into his world.

"Can I play with your car?" Charles asked and pointed to the car that was just to his right and watched his son.

Instead of his car Adam picked up a cuddly toy and took it over to Charles and handed it over. Charles smiled at him "Thank you" he said and then gave the toy a hug before he handed it back and watched as Adam gave it a hug too.

Molly knew that he would come out of his shyness in his own time they couldn't rush it because he was still young so the last thing they wanted to do was push him into anything.

Adam finally picked up the red car and walked over to Charles before putting it into his palm.

Molly sat back in the chair and watched the two of them but her heart was feeling light because finally these two had come together and now everything would really be right in the world.

"Thank you" he smiled and then started pushing it around the floor beside him and making car noises and Adam seemed to find that funny because he tried to make the noises himself but couldn't quite get there.

Molly has done some wrong things in her life, mostly having the friends she had had before she started training for the Army, and the drinking, but her son; _he_ was a good thing. He was the most pure thing in her life that she wondered just how she had manged to be blessed with someone so good. She moved her eyes from her son and up to Charles who was still making those car noises and she wondered _what if_ , what if they did manage to get back together?

But for now they had Adam to concentrate on and if they ended up getting back together then that would be a big bonus.

Molly grabbed her phone and she took a picture of the two of them and would later show it to him but for now she would keep hold of it. She remembers how he was when she first met Sam and it was definitely something she wanted him to have with Adam but something told her that from here on out everything would be okay.

She felt her phone vibrate and there was a message from Bones: **How did it go/how is it going?**

Molly would answer that later but for now she was more than fine watching these two play.

-.-

Charles was there most of the day and he actually didn't want to leave but he knew that he had to go at some point otherwise he would actually stay here all day which was more than fine with him but he wasn't sure just how Molly would feel about that. So he grabbed his coat and walked out to the door with Molly "Thank you for today" he said once they reached the door and he turned to look at her, a soft smile pulling at his lips.

"I'm glad that you enjoyed the day" she admitted, the last thing she had wanted was for this to have turned out badly for him and thankfully it didn't so it was a win all around right now. "You do know that you can come any time to see Adam" Molly wanted him to know that, she wanted him to be able to see Adam as much as he wanted.

Charles nodded but more than anything he wanted them to live under the same roof, he wanted Molly back in his life permanently; he wanted his wife back even if she hasn't been his wife for a while. "You will probably get fed up of me being around"

"Never" she said and shook her head once "I will never get fed up of you being here"

Charles smiled and looked down at his coat that was in his hand and wondered if there was a way he could actually get her back some how, maybe one day there would but first he was happy to have his son in his life. "I know that I said I would leave it for a while but I'm going to tell mum and dad about Adam and I will tell Sam a little bit later on"

Molly really wished that he didn't have to tell his mother anything but of course if she didn't know and she found out from someone else then it would probably be a hundred times worse for her and Adam because she kept the secret from her son. Something told her that she was going to get a lot of grief from that woman even now "Okay just make sure that you tell them that you are seeing him at the moment and you don't want to push a lot of people into his life right now"

"I will" Charles nods before looking at the door "Well then I shall see you tomorrow or at least let you know If I can make it because of work"

"Have a good night, Charles" Molly spoke around a smile because even now she still couldn't help a little smirk when she says his name.

"Good night,Molly" he leaned in and kissed her cheek gently before pulling away and opening the door then walking out and shutting it behind him. Now for the harder bit, he was going to have to tell his family about Adam. This was something that he wasn't going to enjoy at all.

-.-

All the way to Bath he couldn't help but worry about what his mother would actually say, about how he would explain that Molly hadn't told him of Adam until the night she had been rescued in Sierra Leone, even _he_ knew that this wasn't going to go down well and now he was dreading the thought of coming clean.

He parked up outside the house and took a deep breath before putting the key into the lock "Hello?" he called out as he shut the door.

"In here, darling" Pam called out from the dining room.

Charles twirled the car key around in his fingers before he headed in the direction of the dining room and actually expected to find both of his parents taking tea but that definitely wasn't the case, it was just his mother sitting at the table with a tea pot and cup with a book and it was the first time he has seen her actually look calm and he knew that was about to change when he told her his news. "No dad?" he asked.

Pam put her book down and then looked up at her son "No, he's gone to the office, he's actually been pacing most of the day so I told him to go and get out of my hair," she then realised something "you didn't say that you were coming in today, so it must be important"

"It is" Charles nodded and knew that he had to do it now rather than just stand here worrying over the fact that his father wasn't here at all.

"Well take a seat and tell me all about it"

Charles did take a seat and chewed on his lip and after a moment he finally said "I'm going to come out and say it, I found out recently that I have another child, a son to be extact with Molly"

Pam sat and listened to him and then when he said he had another son with Molly she kept her face a neutral and wasn't sure whether it actually passed like that but she hoped it did because the last thing she wanted was to let it show just how she felt about that.

"His name is Adam and I met him today and I don't want you to do anything stupid that would compromise me seeing him" with that he stood up and went to leave

"You have only just met him, Charles, Molly could change her mind on letting you see him at any time, you know how fickle that girl is"

Charles chewed on his lip again and then turned to his mother "You do _anything_ to compromise me seeing my son and I swear I will cut you out of my life, and that is the mother of my child that you are disrespecting there so I would go very careful what you choose to say next" he waited for her to say something but Pam never did so he said instead "And who knows maybe one day she will want to join this family again as my wife but right now I am more than happy having her in my life at all so don't fuck this up for me mum and now I'm going for a shower" with that he walked out the dining room and up the stairs to his room.

Pam waited for a moment before she then got up and grabbed the hand held phone and put the number in. "Hello Marcus, this is Pamela, I want to talk about custody of my grandchild" she said and looked towards the door "No, not Sam, my new one, Adam"


	18. Chapter 18

**A few days later**

Things were going great with Molly and Charles, they were talking a lot more but it was mostly about Adam and Molly wasn't sure how to really bring anything else up and Charles didn't seem like he had any plan to get back with her, maybe this was better because at least then things weren't going to get so complicated.

At least if they were concentrating on their son then they weren't putting in to words what they were.

Molly had to admit that she felt a little uneasy when he had said that he told his mother about Adam, she knew it was coming up but the last thing she wanted to know was that he had in fact actually done it.

In fact she expected the world to end because Charles had had a baby with Molly but so far nothing had happened.

About lunchtime on a Wednesday she was sat having a drink with Georgie, she had come over to see how Molly was doing especially after Sierra Leone and what had happened there, even though she had been told not to say anything she had to tell someone and with Georgie having gone through the same thing before she felt she could turn to her and now they were sat in her kitchen having a cuppa.

"How you feeling?" Georgie asked as she leaned back in her chair that she sat in at the table before looking over at her friend.

"I just keep waiting for the world to finally drop on me, you know" Molly still had nightmares about what had gone on there, all those girls being sold and if it hadn't been for Peanut then she probably would be god knows where right now.

"Have you spoken to anyone about it?" Georgie remembered that they were all big on her talking to the therapist about what had gone on while she had been taken hostage.

Molly shook her head, how could she really explain it to someone who hasn't ever been through something like that? How could she sit opposite someone who really couldn't understand just how scared she had been? She did wonder if she could ask someone for the information on one of the women that she was in the cells with because at least then she might be able to understand what she was going through.

"How is it going with you and Charlie?" Georgie asked and took a sip of her drink.

"At the moment we're concentrating on Adam but I am finding that old feelings are coming back and if I'm being honest this was the last thing I really wanted" Molly admitted and knew that sounded horrible but she didn't want to be in this situation again with Charles especially when his mother was so determined to ruin things for them, yet everything was quiet.

Was that false hope on Molly's part that maybe she would accept Adam and not make any big fuss?

That was a long shot and Molly knew that but a part of her want to hope that maybe now things would be alright between them.

"Because of his mother?" Georgie asked and Molly nodded her head. "Molly, he loves you, he wants to be with you, he married _you_ ; his mother isn't going to change his mind with that"

Molly took a deep breath and knew that what Georgie was saying was right, Charles had married her because he loved her but unfortunately things got blurred along the way with his mother and there was no way that she could navigate those waters. It had made her cry when she left and maybe she could explain it to him but right now they needed to keep on the path that they were going on, right?

"You two need to sit down and talk properly without Adam being there because if you're unhappy apart and still love each other then why not get back together and work through all of this together because if not then you will regret it"

"I regretted it the second I walked out the door but I couldn't go back, I let his mother win and now she keeps winning no matter what I do"

Georgie went to speak but the sound of letters being put through the door stopped her and Molly got up from her seat and walked to the door, she however went over and played with Adam and his toys. That was one little boy that she loved so much and would definitely be the perfect friend for little Laura. Elvis had her on the weekends and it was so much fun with that little girl.

Molly came back into the dining room area and she sat down at the table before going through the mail, mostly it was junk but the last one looked important, _really_ important and as she opened it it felt like her heart was in her throat and as she pulled the paper out and started reading the words her eyes started to get wider and at the end she finally spoke "That bastard" she said and then looked over at Adam who she then said to "Don't repeat that" before dropping her eyes back down to the letter.

"What's wrong?" Georgie asked and handed Adam his car and stood up then walked back to where Molly was sitting, she took the piece of paper from her and then read it. "I don't think that this is Charlie" she said at the end, "I don't think that he would do this to you"

"And yet his name is on the letter asking for custody and I have been so stupid" Molly put her hands to her face and leaned her elbows against the table. This felt like one of the lowest moments of her life.

"This has his mother all over it, this isn't what he would do and you know that"

"Do I?" she asked through her hands, "I hurt him for so long that now he could be take it out on me" Molly knew deep down that he would never do that to her but his mother would even though she was dragging his name through the mud with this.

"This is the family lawyer so he would do anything they asked him to as long and he got paid then he would do it"

"Do you think I would get away with murdering the woman?" Molly dropped her hands from her face and looking over at Georgie before the both of them smiled.

"No, I don't think you would get away with murder"

Molly huffed out a laugh before shaking her head slightly, that woman drove her crazy and more than that she just didn't want her coming anywhere near Adam but she knew that she couldn't keep the small boy away from Charles' mum forever, even though she really, really, wanted to.

The two had a little bit more conversations going and then Georgie said her goodbyes to both Adam and Molly before the two were left alone again.

So Molly decided that she was going to call Charles and tell him exactly what a bitch his mother really was.

-.-

"You know that I would never do that, you have got to realise that" Charles said and he started pacing his office, today was turning out to be a very shit day and he just wanted it over and done with already.

"It's got your name on it, she is very sneaky your mother" Molly spoke and put hers and Georgie's cups in the sink, Adam was sat in front of the TV and watching Paw Patrol and Molly really wished that he couldn't watch it, the TV show was starting to get a little on her nerves especially when he wanted it played over and over again but it kept him quiet while she was able to clean up.

"Don't worry, I'll sort it"

Molly chewed on her lip for a moment as she looked out the window over her sink and stayed quiet for a moment before she then said "I'm really starting to regret telling you about Adam" she said and then ended the call. She knew that was nasty and the last thing she really should've said but if he never found out then she wouldn't have his mother and this damn letter hanging over her.

She isn't sure just how they were going to come back from here.

"Mol-" he said but she had already hung up on him and he tried again but she didn't answer his call.

Now Charles was really pissed off to the point that he had a shit day and wanted it to just be over.

-.-

When Charles got to the Bath house he shut the door loudly and walked into the dining room where he knew his mother would be at this time of night.

"Oh, Darling.."

"I warned you not to do anything stupid and you sent a custody letter to Molly, I had it covered and now you have gone and screwed it all up!" he said angrily at his mother.

"I was trying to help you get more time with your son.."

"We had worked something out and it was going well and now because of that letter you might have screwed everything up"

"Well now we really can take her to court for custody if she's going to be-" she was cut off by what Charles said next.

"I was trying to get my ex wife back! I was hoping that with me being there with Adam that it would reignite things and now because of that damn letter everything has been put back so I might not only lose Adam but I will probably lose Molly too and it's all down to you"

"Charles, I'm sorry..."

"We're done, you and I are done, you might be my mother but right now I am so mad to the point that I don't want to see you again so I'm going to get my stuff and I'm going to stay at the barracks and pray that I can at least calm Molly's fears long enough to repair some of the damage that you have done" he shook his head before walking out of the dining room and up the stairs to his room.

Charles would probably regret saying that when he came to his senses but right now he was so mad that he had to make her see that what she had done was wrong. That her actions has consequences and she wasn't going to get out of this one like she had before.

He packed his clothes and whatever else he had there into a black duffel before he walked down the stairs, his mother was waiting at the bottom.

"I really am sorry, I didn't know that's what you were trying to do"

"No, mother, you're not sorry because this is what you do and that's why Molly left in the first place and I'm tired of you being like it with someone that I care about" he grabbed his jacket from the coat hook and picked it bag up "You can explain to Dad just what had happened and why you won't see me maybe then _both_ men will be disappointed in you" he looked at her one last time before he walked out the door letting it slam shut behind him.


	19. Chapter 19

Charles put his stuff in his room at the barracks and knew that he still had a long way to go when it came to making Molly see that he was more than happy with the way that things were going.

His mother was screwing everything up again and he really needed to stop her from doing so and that's why in the end he just had to walk away to tell her that her actions wasn't making anything better.

Once he put his stuff at the barracks he decided that he was going to call Molly but it seemed like she wasn't going to answer him and if he's honest he doesn't blame her because of the fact that his mother was messing everything up, if it was the other way around he wasn't sure if he would talk to Molly yet either but he needed to make her see that he wasn't after full custody of Adam and that he was more than happy to keep things the way that they were.

If he managed to get her back then that would be a double bonus but at the moment he wasn't sure just how bad things were. He doesn't know if Pam had screwed up all chances of them getting back together or if he would still be in with a chance.

Molly was angry he knew that and going to see her tonight might make things a little bit more worse so he decided that he was just going to leave it for tonight and then go and see her in the morning because at least then he might be able to salvage something, if he went there tonight and forced her to talk to him then it might just make everything so much worse and push Molly away from him for good.

He laid on his bed and looked up at the ceiling and knew that he wasn't going to get a good nights sleep at all; especially when he was fighting everything in him to try her again on the phone.

-.-

The next morning however things didn't go as he had planned especially when he was called into his own boss' office and was told that he would be part of a group that would be heading out to Syria for a few weeks and that really didn't fill him with the best feeling at all especially when he was trying to get his wife back but he was a Captain and still had a job to do.

He wasn't going to enjoy telling Molly that he would be heading out or that he was going to be taking another medic with him this time. As much as he loved having her with him on the last tour he knew that he would be too distracted with trying to win her back than actually looking after the men and women in his charge.

Charles found Molly at work when he went to see her, Adam was with a friend as Belinda wasn't very well and couldn't take him, so a friend of Molly's offered to look after him for a few hours and the boy had walked off with a smile and a wave and Molly knew that she would be able to get those few hours of work done on the base.

"We have to talk" Charles said and looked over at her.

Molly chewed on her lip for a bit and wished that she could tell him to just leave her be for a while but he was still a Captain and she still had to follow the rules even if he had been her husband at one point.

She wasn't sure if he would pull rank and make her listen to him and that was the last thing that she wanted him to do, so she handed the clipboard over to another one of her team mates and said that she would be back soon before she walked off with Charles and wondered exactly what all of this was about.

They found an empty room office and she looked out the window at the other men and women who were marching up and down before she slowly turned around and looked at Charles "What is it you wanted to talk about, sir?" she asked and watched as that hurt crossed his face but she still had to keep things cordial after all he was higher than her.

"Molly, you don't have to call me sir, we know each other well enough" Charles said but she didn't relent and he sighed before he sat down on the edge of the empty desk and watched her, he wasn't sure just how well she was going to take this because of how well their conversation had ended the day before.

When she didn't speak he then carried on and said the words that he had been hearing in his head all morning and the last thing he wanted was to say it out loud but he had no choice because of the fact that it wasn't going to stop him from leaving. "I was told this morning that I will be going out to Syria with my team" he said and watched her face.

Her heart caught in her throat at the thought that he would be going out again even if she knew that that was his job but it didn't mean that she didn't worry about him and even more now that he knew about Adam. But the more she wanted to tell him just how much he meant to her she couldn't actually do it, the more she tried to get those words out the more they caught in her throat and instead she asked him something else "How long you going to be gone for?"

"A few weeks at most; i'm going to say maybe six?" but if he's being honest he wasn't really sure how long he would actually be out there.

Molly nodded and took a deep breath before she looked back at the window; and decided to ask him something else "It doesn't get any easier, does it?" she asked and glanced back at him.

"No it doesn't" he admitted and watched her for a moment and then moved his eyes away to look out the window. "Look, Molly.." he spoke and she turned to look at him "I know that you don't want to talk about it now but I really am sorry for what my mother done, you know that I would never go for full custody especially when you are doing an amazing job"

Molly watched him for a moment and wasn't sure if she had wanted to talk about this here especially if there were heated words exchanged and if those were the last words she ever said to him... she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. "Your mother is always going to have us at odds isn't she" it might've sounded like a question but it definitely wasn't, more like a statement.

"Isn't that what mother in laws do?" he asked and then stood up before he came to stand next to her and look out at the other men and women outside the window.

Molly looked up at him, she hadn't grown in the time that they were married so it was a bit of a neck work out when she did look at him, and it did sometimes give her a pain in the neck. "Your mother reminds me of Viola in _Monster-In-Law_ when she tries to stop Charlie from marrying Kevin by putting strain on their relationship; I'm sure she's not far off from there"

That description made him smile before he looked down at the ground, she wasn't far off there.

"So, who is your new Medic because I'm sure you didn't ask to have me on the team this time, Georgie?" even if she knew that Georgie wasn't doing any overseas tours anymore and staying based in the UK; like Molly there was always that one that would tempt them back into the overseas point of the job.

Charles shook his head "No someone else, I think it's a male this time but doesn't mean there won't be a female somewhere on the team" he knew that it would be different having a male medic instead of a female like he's always had. He couldn't get in to trouble with a male medic; though knowing him he would get in to trouble somewhere.

Molly nodded once and wasn't sure if that made her feel any better especially when things were still up in the air with the two of them. "I need you to come back safe, for Adam's sake" she said and looked at his face.

"Just for Adam's sake?" Charles asked and watched her too.

Molly wanted to shake her head and actually went to do it but instead her head had other ideas and nodded instead. Now she felt like an idiot because of the fact that she had just told him that she didn't care about him as much as he thought she did. Now she felt like the biggest idiot of the world and knew that she would regret saying it, even if she actually _didn't_ say it. "You really do need to come home safetly because I don't want to raise a small boy on my own"

"Well you have been doing well for the last couple of years or so" Charles didn't say that out of spite but more out of fact because it looked like Adam was well loved no matter who was in his life.

Molly frowned a little at that but it didn't cause her to say anything horrible because again her brain was telling her to think before she spoke as she couldn't take the words back once she had said them if they were nasty. "That doesn't mean I don't want you to come back and be in his life now, I'm not that spiteful even though I'm sure your mother thinks so"

"I really don't care what my mother thinks" he admitted. "And maybe you should stop thinking what she thinks too because that is why she keeps winning when it comes to us" Charles knew he was probably overstepping the mark but right now he didn't care, he had to tell her straight that she was letting his mother get to her more and more everytime, if she did that then he doubts they will ever get back together as Molly would be too worried about his mother and he couldn't live like that.

"I'm trying but she still gets under my skin" Molly admitted and watches his face. He then moved and stood in front of her and put his hands on the top of her arms and she could see those eyes that she loved so much.

"Then don't let her" he said softly to her, he knew it was easier said than done and he had let her get under his skin too but now he was done with what she thinks; as long as he has Molly and Adam in his life then he is set. "Since when have you worried what people thought about you?"

Well she had been worried what her team mates thought when she was out in Afghan and Smurf had been a right dick and plus this was his mother, the woman who literally did make her life a living hell. If she's honest she feels like she's back in Sierra Leone with all of those smugglers.

"I have never stopped worrying about what people think" she admitted and chewed on her lip for a moment before she shook her head and looked away.

"Hey.." he said and reached out gently and pulled her back to him and Charles gave her a hug and he was glad when she hugged him back. It had felt like a long time since he had hugged her. He then kissed the top of her head and then only pulled back when she pulled back and then looked at her. "You don't need to worry what I think about you"

"Don't I?" Molly asked and looked at his face once more.

"Never" he said and shook his head once as if proving that point, there was no way he would think any less of her no matter what.

"Come back to me" Molly said those words that he had said to her in Afghan in the medical tent right before she left to go back him for R&R.

"I will" he put his hand gently on her cheek and then leaned his forehead against hers and they both closed their eyes up.

Molly knew that they had a lot of talking to do but she wouldn't do it before he left for Syria especially when if things went sideways then it would be on his mind, no she wanted him to concentrate on the task at hand and come back and then they both could talk; that way they could deal with whatever consequences that his mother had started with that letter that was sitting on her table back at her own place. "We will talk properly when you get back" she promised and pulled her head away from his and looked up at his eyes once they were open.

"I love you" Charles said to her.

Molly smiled at him and then said those famous last words of a movie "I know"

-.-

Charles knew that they had a lot to talk about when he got back but for now he was going to be keeping his mind on the new tour and the men and women in his charge.

It was only a few weeks, they could survive that.

Plus those weeks would give Molly some time to think about whether she really wanted to stay in the Army or whether she wanted to leave and bring Adam up full time.

Unfortunately for Molly there was always that fear of getting that knock on the door to say that Charles had been hurt or worse, only this time it would go to his mother. Molly might not even find out what had happened until it was too late. She needed to stop thinking like that because if she didn't then she wouldn't be able to get through those weeks and they could turn out to be very interesting indeed.


	20. Chapter 20

In those weeks that Charles was away Molly would be at work herself and when she wasn't she was with Adam and of course whenever they could Molly and Charles would talk to each other on the phone but she had gone most days without talking to him than she did with.

Molly had explained as best as she could to her son just who Charles was and she thinks that he understood because whenever she showed the small boy a picture he would point at it and say " _Da_ " and honestly it made her heart skip a beat because the two of them had been away from each other long enough. Molly didn't want to put any distance between them anymore.

But it was one afternoon when she had arrived home from work and with Adam at her mother's for a couple of days, who would've known that Dave would dote on his Grandson, and she found that Charles' mother had been waiting for her that she knew it would be a bad day because with these two women coming face to face things weren't exactly neutral.

"What do you want?" Molly asked her ex mother in law.

"I just wanted to talk and apologise for what I have done" Pam responded.

Molly scoffed at her and then looked around where they were standing for a moment before she put her eyes back on Pam "Which time? The time you tried to put another woman between me and Charles? The time you tried to embarrass me in front of all your dinner guests? Or was it the time you tried to have my son taken away from me so that you could push the knife in that much more because I'm not really sure which one it is myself"

Pam took a deep breath "Okay, I deserve that" she admitted with a nod and watched Molly "But I think you'll find that you said it yourself in those questions, that I _tried_ to do all of that to you and Charles wouldn't let me get away with it" She knew that that made her sound even more worse but she really did try all of that and failed.

"You are so unbelievable, you stand there and say that you want to talk but when I have just brought up most of the stuff that you have done your answer to it was _I tried_ " Molly shook her head once more and then scoffed once more. She really didn't want to get into all of this especially when she was having some sort of a nice day.

"Can we talk about this inside? We're not on _EastEnders_ " Pam said and looked around and Molly's neighbours, the last thing she wanted was for all of this to be talked about through the place where Molly lived.

Molly wanted to say no and slam the door in her face but she found herself grabbing her keys out of her pocket and walking up to the door of her flat which thankfully was on the ground floor and not on the top but she would like to see that bitch walk up the flights of stairs in her no doubt expensive shoes. She walked in and left the door open for the wicked witch to fly in on her broomstick and found herself feeling disappointed when she actually _did_ come in and shut the door behind her.

"No Adam?" Pam asked as she looked around; noticing how quiet it really was.

"I felt a disturbance in the Force and decided to get him out of here before Darth Vader turned up" Molly said and looked straight at Pam.

"You do know that Vader was actually Luke's father, right?"

Molly gave her the best _I really don't care_ look, she was Vader whether she liked it or not. "What do you want, Pam?"

Pam cleared her throat and took a seat at the small table that Molly had in her kitchen and put her handbag on the floor next to the chair "I wanted to ask you whether you would talk to Charles for me, to make him see that what he has done is wrong and that I am his mother"

Molly raised an eyebrow at the cheek of what she was asking of her, Pam had to be out of her mind if she thought that Molly would sit there and talk to Charles when he got back about how he had done the wrong thing when it came to his mother. No mother should act the way that she did and go behind their son's back. She was starting to think that her Nan was right about wanting to throw Shazzer off of the motorway bridge; Molly found herself wanting to do it to Charles' mother but then she would lose everything if the woman was found with Molly's DNA on her. "No" she finally said after a moment of watching the other woman.

"No? What do you mean _no_?" Pam spoke her words calmly but she really didn't feel calm right now; she was in the middle of losing her son for good and with him being an only child she didn't want to lose him.

"What it means, _no_ ," she muttered and then chewed on her lip for a moment before she finally decided to just spill everything and let the woman have it. "You seem to think that I have this hold over Charles where he does everything I tell him, he doesn't; he made the decision to leave you on his own, he made that decision because _you_ had pushed him too far" Molly finally said and knew that it would probably hurt her but she needed to know the truth of the matter that her actions have consequences because it was clear that Pam didn't understand any of this; or just simply didn't care.

Pam went to say something but Molly spoke instead "I mean for Christ sake you tried to have his son taken away; you need to own up to what you have done because if you can't then you will lose him for good, if you haven't already done that of course"

Pam sat there in silence for a long moment and knew that she probably would sound stupid for even asking this but she wanted the answer honest and truthful and from Molly she knew that she would get it. "Do you think I've lost Charles?"

"I honestly don't know, that is something for the two of you to work out but who knows maybe he will have a clearer head when he gets back from Syria but you don't want to hassle him with all the questions because he always needs a moment when he comes back from tours and deployments"

Pam had wondered how the hell she could be really stupid and do all the things that she has done to make her son decide that he had had enough of her and that her scheming ways were too much for him. With him being their only child Pam had wanted the best for him but then he decides that he wants to join the Army so that plan had gone out of the window and then he went on to marry Rebecca and have Sam and Pam thought that he would be settled for good; only that didn't work out as well as she had hoped. They had tried to stay together for as long as they could but in the end they just weren't happy and had to split up.

Then he had met Molly and Pam was deeply disappointed that he had met a girl from a London Estate. Molly wouldn't have been the girl that Pam would've choosen for Charles and she had proved that many times by trying to set him up with someone else but in the end Charles' mind had been made up and he had wanted to be with Molly; only the poor girl had had enough of Pam interferring and she had walked away and taking, unknown to them at that point, Adam with them.

Molly watched Pam trying to work everything out in her mind and she sighed before then asking "Do you want a cuppa? Things might look a bit better after that" she saw Pam nod and she turned and put the kettle on before grabbing two cups out of the cupboard.

"Why are you being so nice and not telling me to get out after everything that I have done?" Pam asked and looked over at the dark haired younger woman, who definitely wasn't afraid to stand up for what she believed in.

"I don't know," Molly admitted and put the teabags in the cup before adding the sugar "maybe trying to be the bigger person and not stoop down to your level could be one of the reasons or there could be something else" she shrugged up a shoulder and once the kettle boiled she added the water and let the teabag settle for a moment in the water before she walked over to the fridge and grabbed the milk then took the bag out and added the milk in before giving it a good stir. She walked over to the table with the two cups of teas and put one down in front of Pam and sat down herself at the other side of the table.

"Why have I been so stupid?" Pam asked and looked over at Molly.

"Mothers are when it comes to their children, they feel the need to protect them at any age and I will probably be the same with Adam but you need to understand that Charles doesn't want to be babied, he wants to be able to live the life he wants"

"He even ran to another country to prove that" Pam muttered.

Molly wanted to feel bad for Pam but in the end this was all of her own making, she had pushed Charles too far and now he snaps back and tells her that he doesn't want that anymore and that if she can't be nice to the woman that he loves then Pam had no place in their lives.

"Are you and Charles going to get back together?" Pam asked.

It was something that Molly had been thinking about but if she's being honest his mother really had a big hand in the reason why she didn't want to get back together but it clearly shows that Pam could get to her even if she wasn't with Charles and honestly it was making her feel miserable not being with him. Sure she had been with Bones for a while but he wasn't Charles and in the end he knew that. Molly found it easier to speak to Bones about things like that and knew that she would have another friend no matter what. "I don't know" she spoke after a moment and put her hands around her hot cup.

"If I may say something, he loves you Molly and he has proven that time and time again, he wants to be with his family; you and Adam, that is all he wants"

Over the time that Charles has been gone she had envisioned a life where Charles was living with them and how Christmases would be, and Father's day and birthdays and summer holidays; even though they were both in the Army and knew that stuff like that was hard she still dreamed about it, all of it. Molly found that there was a question that she wanted to ask and the more that she tried to keep it down the more she wanted to say it until she finally spoke her mind and asked the question that she had been wanting to ask for _years_. "Why don't you like me for Charles?" Molly kept her eyes on her ex mother in law.

Pam sat there for a moment in silence and there was only one explanation that she could really give. "Because I was a snob and a complete bitch, I wanted better for Charles and if that meant marrying a girl whose mother I have known for a long time then that was what I was going to push for, and then when you left I was glad because I thought that then I could get around to Charles and get him to see that he was supposed to be with someone else but it has always been you Molly, you are his guiding light and to now find out that he has a son with you, in his mind that has cemented you two being together"

"I tried everything to get you to like me but in the end I just decided that it wasn't worth it and I stopped trying but that didn't mean that you weren't in every thought that I had, even after leaving Charles it was like you were always there and I didn't like it" Molly admitted and looked down at the table for a moment, she might as well be honest about how badly this woman had affected her even when she wasn't married to Charles. Even now sitting here there were thoughts that maybe she was doing things wrong but this was Molly's place and no one was going to tell her what she should do in her own place.

Pam didn't realise just how badly she had affected the poor woman and if she could go back and do it differently then she really would but unfortunately her actions were what led her son to decide that he didn't want to be part of her life anymore. She moved her hands from her cup and then put them on Molly's, the younger woman then looked up at her, and she said "I truly am sorry for everything I have done to you, you didn't deserve any of that"

Molly watched her and wondered if she was only playing a game in which this would get back to Charles and once he was back in her life would she change back to how she was? She wanted to believe that she had changed but at the moment she wasn't sure what she truly believed. If she wanted to be a part of her son's life then she was going to have to change dramatically for Charles to even consider changing his mind but at the moment he had seemed a lot happier, even though he had been in Syria when they had spoken but it was like this weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he could walk better. She squeezed Pam's hands back and watched as the woman gave her a soft smile to which Molly had smiled back.

Could they ever really get on or where they just too different to the fact that they truly wouldn't see eye to eye no matter what each woman wanted?

Molly wasn't sure but maybe this was the first honest conversation that they had ever had and while that might not be enough for some people that _could_ be a start in which things _might_ be a bit easier in the long run. She then felt Pam's hands move from hers and in the end Molly got up from the chair and walked into the front room and took a picture down from a cupboard and then walked back into the kitchen. She put it down in front of Pam and sat back down in her own chair.

"That's your Grandson" Molly said with a proud smile, that little boy while unplanned had brought so much light to her life and she was more than thankful for him.

"Oh he looks like his father when he was younger, I remember this one time where Charles had wanted paints and against our better judgement we had allowed him to have some and he decided that he wanted to paint his arms and the walls for that matter" Pam said and picked up the picture to get a better look at the grandson that she had never met but if she didn't change her ways then she wouldn't meet him at all.

"Charles was actually a rebel child?" Molly asked around a soft laugh, she found that a little hard to imagine.

"Oh he definitely was and there are _loads_ of stories I could tell you about Charles" Pam smiled and looked up at Molly.

Maybe things might be a little bit more easier and maybe Pam will be able to get to speak to her son once he got back from Syria but for now she was too busy sharing those stories with Molly, if she could work up a relationship with Molly then she might be able to get her son back but for now she knew that she had a long way to go and sharing baby stories with Molly while looking at her grandson's picture was enough.


	21. Chapter 21

The six weeks unfortunately seemed to be dragging and while she had had a chat with Charles' mother; Molly wasn't sure she wanted to entertain the woman for so long especially when she knew there was a possibility that Pam could just be sucking up to her to get back to Charles and of course there was no way that he would let that happen so in the end she didn't let them get too close just in case.

Charles had called when he could but she didn't tell him about his mother turning up because the last thing she wanted was for him to think about that while he was still out there. She wanted him to come home safely and not do something stupid because he had been worried about his mother turning up. No so she kept that from him and told him to concentrate on the time he had left there before coming home to the two of them. Molly hated the thought of him in Syria but it was something that he had been doing long before he met hernplus it wasn't like she hadn't been to dangerous places too.

It was Halloween and Molly was going to be holding a party which she knew was probably silly on her part but it was Halloween and the kids all deserved to have fun. Plus it meant that she had something to focus on which was what she needed right now.

Molly had decided that she was going to dress up and of course hand out sweets when the little kids came knocking at her door. It wasn't really her favourite time of the year but Adam had given her something to look forward to. Plus she felt like she had to give something back.

Adam, she decided, was going to be a little dracula and she had even brought him a cape and he looked absolutely adorable and of course she had to take some pictures and would get them taken off so that her family could have one and she would be able to put one in the photo album. Molly was going to dress up as a cat, she even found some cat ears in the local Poundland and had decided there and then that she was going to be a cat this Halloween.

She had one of the mum's around to help her set up and for the first time in a while she felt like she could properly relax.

Molly remembered Halloween when she was younger, Belinda would dress her up in a black bag and use it as some sort of costume and it was fun until she realised that there were a lot more outfits coming out for Halloween and Belinda just couldn't afford to get all of the kids something new every year so Molly was old enough she would make sure that she didn't argue with her mother about what she would be wearing and then as she started to reach her sixteenth or seventeenth birthday she just decided to stop doing Halloween all together and go out pissing it up with her so called friends.

But she was so much better now, being in the Army had changed everything about her. She stopped drinking or at least she had definitely calmed down on the drinking and wasn't going out drinking to the point where she was passing out and she had stopped smoking which she admitted was hard for a while but training had kept her mind off of the fags to the point after a while the craving just disappeared and she was a lot more healthier for it.

Molly could honestly say that the Army saved her in ways that even she couldn't explain and like Corporal Geddings had said, they gave her a bigger family.

Molly's place was looking definitely Halloween-y and there were fake spiders all over the place and skeletons and pumpkins with those flickering t-light candles in them. It looked really amazing actually. To the point that she was looking forward to tonight and couldn't wait for Adam to actually see it, he was with a friend at the moment so that Molly could concentrate on doing this.

There were bowls of sweets for the kids and even though it was Halloween she wanted everything to be just perfect. She had that mindset for a while until the door bell rang and she smiled over at her friend, Morgan, before she moved to the door. She thought it might've been Adam returning and now that he was back he would be able to see the place and hopefully it wouldn't scare the poor boy. That was the last thing she ever wanted to do.

Molly pulled the door open to see two men there and she looked at the both of them in their uniforms. "Bit old for Halloweening, aren't we?" she asked and felt that bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. They only turned up when something bad had happened.

"Mrs James?" one of them asked and watched her.

"I haven't been that for a while, you're confusing me with my ex mother in law"

"You are Molly?"

Molly nodded and realised that Charles hadn't changed over his next of kin even after all this time and she didn't want to even receive the news that would be told to her, she looked passed them and down the walk way that they had clearly come to see some women watching them and then quickly moved on when she caught them. "You better come in then" she said and moved out the way for the two men to come in to the house and walked to the kitchen where Mo was.

Morgan looked over her shoulder and then saw Molly being followed by the two men and she knew that this wasn't her place to be but would only stay if Molly wanted it to happen. "Do you want-" Molly then shook her head and Morgan knew that she would stay because her friend would need to company, the support.

Molly stood by the table and watched the two men. "Is he dead?" she asked and put her hands into the pockets of her jeans because she suddenly felt very cold, her body then started to shake and she wanted something to warm her up but knew that even if she did have a hot drink it wouldn't make her feel any better.

"Should we sit down?" One of them asked, his name was Mark Harris, but she never asked.

Molly indicated for him to sit if he wanted but she would be standing up because she wasn't sure she would be able to get back up if she did sit down. She watched as he took a seat but the other man remained standing and kept his dark eyes on her.

"As you know Captain James led a team into Syria and this morning there were airstrikes and we have lost contact with the team"

Molly brought her hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, she wanted to get out of this nightmare; she knew it was Halloween but this really was not the way she wanted to spend today. She could feel the silence hanging in the kitchen like this weight had been put in it and she wanted for a moment before she dropped her hand and opened up her eyes to look back at them. "That's nothing you can lose contact with a team at any time especially when..."

"It's been over eight hours and we are sending in Special Forces to find them and bring them home"

Molly now felt the need to sit down and she gripped the back of the chair and sat down heavily in it. Bones would be sent in to look for Charles and right now she wasn't sure if there was a more awkward moment. Her ex was looking for her ex, it felt like one of those twisted stories about exes finally meeting and fighting over a girl. Molly knew that at the end of that sentence he meant that SF would bring them home whether they were alive or dead.

The conversation continued and even Morgan asked a couple of questions, her own husband was away overseas but not in Syria thankfully, but Molly didn't hear anything like that. What she did hear was her heart pounding hard in her ears and the feeling of wanting to throw up but she wasn't sure she would be able to even if she could.

Molly remembered that time in Afghan when she had to watch as Charles was wheeled through the hospital at Camp Bastion and the waiting that she had to go through to see if he would pull through and right now the waiting was going to be worst than that because she was in a complete other country to Charles.

It then hit her in the heart that she was going to have to tell Pam that her son was missing, the one that she had pissed off before he left. The one who had walked out of the house in Bath so annoyed that he didn't want to see her anymore and she couldn't imagine what that conversation was going to be like.

The two men stayed for a little bit longer before Molly and Mo were alone and there was silence once more before Molly got up from her seat and grabbed her car keys.

"Where you going?" Morgan asked her and knew that she was still in a cloud and shouldn't be driving anywhere.

"I have to tell his mother, she deserves that much" she grabbed her phone and put it into her back pocket and looked around to see if she had everything else.

"I'll drive, you are in no fit state to do anything" Morgan grabbed the carkeys from Molly's hand and then walked out with the dark haired woman, leaving her no choice because she was going anyway. Morgan made sure that the door was shut before they got into the car. This was going to be a drive that Molly might never forget.

-.-

While on the road Molly just looked out of the window and watched as the traffic went passed them and knew that this was the last thing she wanted to be doing but as next of kin to Charles, still, she had to do it and knew that Pam would probably hate her for them falling out and the pain that the mother would be going through. It was a conversation that she wasn't looking forward to having especially if that enters between them.

"What if he is-" Molly stopped herself and looked over at Morgan. "I never told him that I wanted to be with him, that I want to be his wife again and I may never get to do that"

"You can't think that way at the moment, Molly, not until you get confirmation that he has been killed. You need to keep strong for your son"

"I don't think that I can"

"You are stronger than you think, believe me" Morgan reached over and put her hand on Molly's and smiled softly at her. "Plus you will have me and the other ladies to help you out, we will help you"

Molly squeezed her hand back and gave a slight smile before looking ahead once more. She wasn't sure how she would cope without Charles in her life, even though she hadn't been with him for years the thought of him not being in the world anymore hurt her more than anything.

They arrived at the house and she looked up at the grand place before she took a deep breath and moved in the direction of the door and knocked on it. Pam and Robert would probably be expecting Trick or treaters but instead she would be delivering the message that they couldn't find her son. Not exactly the best Halloween news right now.

Robert opened the door with the bowl of sweets in his hand and saw Molly "Oh, Molly, dear" he said with a smile and then heard Pam come to the door behind him. The look on Molly's face was enough to stop his wife from smiling. He heard her words of _no, please god no_ and that was enough to make him put the bowl down and Molly, and her friend, walked in and shut the door behind them.

The conversation lasted a while and just as expected Molly was blamed for the tension between Pam and her son, Robert had tried to calm the situation but in the end Molly just watched the woman and in the end she knew that she had to go because of the fact that she was wanting to say things that she would probably regret later on and Morgan drove her back home. It wasn't the first time that she felt like she was useless. She had felt it when Charles had got hurt in Afghan, when Smurf was fitting at the Football Ground and now when she couldn't do anything but wait for news on whether they would find him alive or dead.

-.-

They finally got back to her place and she opened the door and saw all the Halloween stuff was still there and cleared her throat when Morgan asked if she wanted all of this taken down. Molly shook her head "No, we're going to have the party because it will help me concentrate on something other than Charles being- no leave everything up and then we can deal with everything tomorrow"

The party that night went ahead but Molly really wasn't enjoying it as much as she wanted to. She often found her thoughts wandering to Charles and Bones and all the SF men that would be going to Syria to find their missing charges.

Molly dressed up as a cat and she even got Adam ready in his dracula costume and she wondered why she had even decided to continue this party because it wasn't as if she would enjoy it, but in the end it came down to the kids and they would enjoy it and really that was all that mattered.

She found herself dreading every time the door went just in case it was those two men back again to tell her that they had found Charles and that he would be coming back in a coffin rather than walking off the plane but each and every time it was kids in their cute outfits.

Morgan had been the best friend that she could ever ask for and was really grateful for her because if she was going through this alone then she wasn't sure if she would still be standing right now but she was right Molly had to keep going for Adam because even though he was going to need her more if in the end his father wasn't around.

She felt her phone vibrate in the back of her black trousers and reached in and grabbed it out quickly and there was a name that popped up on the screen.

 _Elvis_

Molly answered the phone to her husbands best friend.


	22. Chapter 22

Molly couldn't hear what Elvis was saying because of all the kids so she decided to head outside which probably was the worst thing because a kid made her jump and she sighed under her breath before she put the phone back to her ear. "Sorry what were you saying?"

"I heard about Charlie, and they are sending in SF?" he asks the question while keeping his eyes forward as he was driving and this was definitely risky but at the moment it was worth the risk to find out just what was going on with his best friend. Sometimes there was a part of him that wished he hadn't given up going on tours but he knew at the back of his mind he probably wouldn't be let on this personal one anyway.

"Yep they're going in and bringing the team back" she said and looked around to see if anyone was there but she was now on her own. There was silence and it felt like a weight on her shoulders that she didn't like. Molly wanted to know what she had done to deserve so much heartbreak because one person surely couldn't take this much from whoever was dealing it out.

Elvis knew that she wouldn't know who was going in but a part of him had a weird feeling that it was Bones and after what Charlie told him about Molly and Bones - well.. he wasn't sure if they should really be face to face right now. But both of them needed to be professional when it comes to something like this. "How are you doing?" he asked after a moment of thinking, it couldn't be easy being on this end. Hell he felt like he was going to go out of his mind because he couldn't help his best friend.

Molly had to think about that for a moment because even though she had only heard about Charles earlier and told his mother, it felt like no one had really asked her that. "I don't know" she admitted and chewed on her lip for a moment and then jumped a little when a large bang erupted over her head and she looked up to see the white lights of a firework that had been let off. It was only bloody Halloween and people were letting fireworks off like it was Bonfire Night.

"I know that it can't be easy waiting to find out just what is going on so I will try my hardest to see if I can find anything out or if I can get myself on to the tour but that could be wishful thinking, I'll get back to you and Molly.."

"Yeah?" she asked and watched as a couple of kids walked up to the door a few down from Molly's place.

"Keep your chin up" Elvis knew that those words were probably the last thing she wanted to be told but she was a strong girl and he knew that she would never be completely alone when it came to something like this.

"If you get on to the team, please bring him home Elvis" she said and knew that him out of anyone would bring Charles home, he wouldn't stop until he found him no matter what.

Elvis knew that that was a heavy sentence but with how he never gave up until he managed to find someone then he was going to make sure that he found Charlie no matter how long he was out there or... what state he was in. "If you need anything then let Georgie know and she will be there" he said after a moment.

"I will.." but Molly wasn't sure if she would ring anyone ebcause of the fact that this wasn't the first time she had dealt with something like this, hell even if they hadn't been married at the time of Charles being shot in Afghan she knew what it was like to wait out and right now she was going to have to do a lot of waiting before she got any news. News that she hoped would be good but if they've lost contact with a whole group then it didn't sound as good as she hoped.

They said their goodbyes and Molly wasn't much of the praying type but she hoped that Elvis and Bones, if he was the one leading the team, would be safe especially out in Syria. There was no way that she wanted any harm to come to anyone on those two teams that she held dearly in her heart.

She took a deep breath for a moment and then walked back to her door and in to her place before she grabbed the sweets for the two kids that had now made it to her door. Molly let them pick out their own and then wished them a Happy Halloween before shutting the door and going back to the party.

-.-

Elvis stopped the car and got out before grabbing his stuff, he knew that this was probably the worst thing he could do but there was no way he was going to sit back while this whole other team was going to go and look for his friend, he knew it was reckless and knew that he shouldn't be doing this but when has he ever listened to something like this?

He walked over to the team and put his stuff with theirs "Alright boys" he said to some of his former team mates before looking over at their leader and knew it would be Bones McClyde but he didn't tell Molly that because of the history that they had with each other and the history that Charlie had found out about.

"What are you doing, Elvis?" Bones asked and watched him with that same look that he gave everyone when they annoyed him and having the ex captain of this team on a personal mission would really annoy anyone.

"I'm coming with you" he said and strapped his gear on and honestly it felt weird wearing a thigh holster again after so long but Elvis could make it work anyway. Elvis left no room for there to be a discussion but clearly Bones didn't get the memo because he then started to go off on one.

"You are _not_ coming with us because of the personal connection you have to Captain James" when something like this happened they had to learn to keep the personal out of this and from what he heard the last time he had got this personal it was when his own wife had been taken in Kenya. "Matters of the heart cloud your judgement, Elvis"

Elvis looked up at him and raised his eyebrow at that before letting a smirk pull at his lips slightly. "You don't need to give me a lecture, but I am going whether you like it or not and it's only for this mission" he squared up to him, there was no way that he was going to let Bones tell him what he was and wasn't going to do.

"This isn't time for a pissing contest, we have a team to find in the vast area of Syria so shouldn't we just be going?" Peanut asked and stepped forward ready to break them apart if necessary.

Bones looked at Peanut for a moment before looking back at Elvis once more "I'm team captain"

"Didn't think you were anything other than that" he said and smirked once more before he looked back down to his kit and made sure that he had everything that he needed on.

"Did you really have to do that?" Peanut asked as Bones moved away from where the two of them, him and Elvis, were standing. "You know what he can get like when things don't go his way and at the same time it's nice to have you back" he smiled and strapped himself in.

"Well I think healthy competition will make the world go around and thanks but it's only to make sure that Charlie gets back to Molly" he admitted and then grabbed his bag from the ground "Plus I'm pretty sure that when I get home Georgie is going to want to hit me with her new brush" he said around a smile before patted Peanut on the back. "It's good to be back with you too, mate"

-.-

Molly was actually relieved when the party finished mostly because of the fact she wanted to get into bed and put today behind her. Morgan helped her to tidy up but she didn't feel like saying anything other than the odd question from Morgan that asked if she wanted certain things in the fridge or chucked away.

It was only when the silence got a little bit too much that Molly finally broke it and looked over at her friend "Thank you for helping me out" she admitted and smiled softly at her. "Without you here I don't think I could've got through it" she nodded at Morgan before she walked over and gave her a gentle hug.

Morgan was always there for a friend in need and Molly had got the news that no one was really prepared for and now she was going to have to wait to see if Charles would be coming home alive or in a coffin. She hugged her back more tightly and held on to it for a little while before she slowly pulled back and looked at her friend in the face "I can stay a little bit longer if you want me too"

Molly shook her head "You get your boys to bed, I will be alright, just going to wash up and then put Adam to bed before going myself" she wasn't sure if she would be able to sleep that properly, if at all, but the last thing she wanted to do was keep Morgan here more than she had to be here especially when she had two boys of her own that needed to get some sleep.

"Are you sure?" Morgan asked her and Molly nodded to which she then replied "You have my number if you need anything and I can stop by tomorrow when the boys are at school to see how you are"

"Thank you" she smiled at her and nodded once more before she let Morgan grab her things and walked out with her before her friend said goodnight to Adam before she and her two boys left her and Adam alone.

Molly felt the silence once everyone was gone and she looked around the room and took a deep breath before she put Adam to bed, the little boy had been practically falling asleep anyway so when she got him out of his costume and put him to bed Molly told him that she loved him and kissed his head before letting him get some sleep. Now she was truly alone and she felt the overwhelming weight of that.

Molly headed back downstairs and started to wash up and if she's being honest she felt like she was living in a nightmare that unfortunately Molly couldn't wake up from and that made her heart sink before she put the last plate on the dryer before she felt a sob break out of her and she then turned and sank down onto the floor letting her tears come out.

Some people could call her a hypocrite for crying now even though she had been away from him for a long time but Molly knew that he was still out there; still alive and doing the job that he wanted to do but now.. Who really knows?

Molly didn't like thinking about that but there was always that _what if_ he wasn't coming back? _What if_ this was really the end? If it was then she was glad that he knew about his son and how much she did love him. Her heart ached more than anything right now and she wanted him to walk back through the door and tell her that he was alright with that smile that she loved so much.

Molly stayed on that floor for a while and her eyes were sore from crying but there was still a lot more tears left in her. The next few days were going to be hard but she would try to get through for her son. For him she would make sure that she smiled even when she didn't feel it inside.

She hadn't heard back from Elvis so that meant that he had got himself on to the team that would be looking for Charles and she hoped that all three of them came back safely, Molly hadn't said it to Elvis but she really hoped that he came back safely. Because she wasn't sure if she could stand Georgie hating her if anything happened to Elvis while he was out in Syria. It was hard enough to know that Pam was blaming her for the distance between her and Charles. Molly couldn't take it if someone else hated her.

She felt hot tears running down her cheeks as she cried for everything, it didn't matter whether it was related to this or not. Molly was going to cry for everything bad that had happened because once she started there was no way she was going to be able to stop.

And she didn't.

Exhaustion was running through her body but still she stayed sitting on that cold floor in the kitchen.


	23. Chapter 23

_The bed is warm and she really doesn't want to wake up because waking up would mean facing the world again, Molly wasn't even sure what day it really was. Hell what week it even was._

 _She feels the bed shifting next to her and she assumes it's Adam who has got in there with her some time through the early morning, he usually crept in there and she would wake up and see this dark haired little boy on the pillows next to her._

 _It seems to get harder each day that passes and there is no word of them finding Charles or any of the others for that matter._

 _The bed shifts again and this time Molly looks over and into the face of her ex husband in bed next to her; he's smiling before biting down on his lip. She loved it when he does that. "Charles" she said softly and he let his lip go and pulls her into a hug. "Oh Charles, I thought that you were gone"_

 _"You were dreaming Molly, I've been in bed next to you all night" he said in the hug and held onto her. She must be dreaming if she thought that he had gone. He had been here like he said._

 _Molly froze a little before she pulled back and looked at him, her eyes on his brown ones and she put her hands against his chest; he felt very very real. Yet she was more than convinced that he had gone to Syria and they were looking for him right now as she was here with him. "Oh I must've had a terrible dream then" she muttered and shook her head. Unfortunately it felt real and heartbreaking._

 _He put his hand on her cheek and caressed it for a moment before he leaned down and kissed her softly. Charles loved the feel of her lips against his and more so this morning than he has ever before. He felt Molly sink into his kiss and then he rolled her so that she was on her back in bed and he was hovering over her; their lips still moving with each others._

 _Molly moved her hands from his chest to his shoulders and pulled him down on her to which he willingly did, she put her leg up by his and for a moment they were connected by their lips. There were times like this when they were first married that they couldn't keep their hands to themselves and if they woke up together then this was what they would spend their time doing and even arriving at their work late._

 _Sometimes it turned into them taking off the small amount of clothes they had on in bed and losing themselves in passion and each other. Like she wanted to do right now because of the fact they had woken up together in the bed that...unfortunately he never slept in._

 _This bed was new and she was starting to realise that just when there is a loud noise ringing through the room._

 _"What is that?" She asks after pulling away from his lips and looking around the room because it sounds so familiar and so very close._

 _Molly hears the vibrating as it moves across something solid and realises that it's her mobile phone and that the alarm was going off and this was all just a dream and that Charles wasn't here with her, not in her bed and not his lips against hers at all._

 _"Stay with me" he says after a moment and then leans down to kiss her lips again but this time it's in the corner and he moves his lips down across her cheek to her jawline to kiss along it before moving down to her neck._

 _"I really wish that I could but I have to get up" the buzzing was now so loud that she wasn't sure if he heard her or not but he was smiling down at her like an angel with a golden halo around his dark curly hair. It made her heart lurch in her chest, did that halo mean that he had died in Syria and that Elvis would be bringing back his body?_

 _"Are you alive?" Molly shouted this over the buzzing but he kept smiling at her and then pulling away and getting further and further from her as the light from her curtains starts to poke at her eyes and she finally wakes up and grabs hold of the mobile and turns her alarm off._

Molly sits up and runs both hands over her face then into her hair as she tries to calm her heart down, she hasn't had a dream like that before not even when they were married and on tours each and it was making her fear the worse. Unfortunately she hasn't heard anything from Elvis or Bones for that matter and going to work had been hard especially when she was just waiting for some sort of news, one way or another.

She hasn't heard anything from Pam either which isn't surprising because she would still blame Molly for the fact that Charles had been angry at her when he left for Syria. Although she thought she might've heard something by now, maybe to ask if she had heard anything but it was silent on her end. The thing was that she liked Robert, he wasn't anything like Pam, he was more laid back than anything but she guessed that he too had been forbiddened to talk to her.

Molly finally managed to get up from bed and get herself and Adam something to eat before they both got dressed and brushed their teeth, she had to smile when she looked in the mirror over the skin and her small boy was brushing his teeth with his blue Captain America toothbrush. Molly wasn't sure what she would do if Charles didn't come back alive but if there was any sign of him or the others alive then surely they would've been back by now? Surely there would have been some sort of word.

Adam grabbed his stuff for his child minders and Molly made sure that she had everything that she needed, it was cold out and with Autumn well and truly in force the mornings had Molly heating the car up before they even left the house.

Molly dropped Adam off at Elizabeth's house and promised that she would come and pick him up once she was done with work and kissed his head before he ran off to play with Michaela and Joe and Elizabeth smiled before looking over at Molly.

"Any word yet?" she asked and leaned against the door.

Molly shook her head and wished that there had been _something_ that had come her way. Something that someone had told her but it seems like they didn't have any information to really give her other than they were still looking for Charles and the others. "Hopefully soon" she smiled and then waved at Adam and blew him a kiss before she looked back at Elizabeth "Thank you for looking after him today"

"No trouble at all" Elizabeth admitted, if they couldn't help each other out then what was the point of being friends? Plus Adam would be starting school at some point.

"Still, thanks" Molly admitted and waved again at Adam before she got back into her car and drove to the barracks that she would be working at today.

It was a few days between Bonfire Night and Remembrance Sunday and today she hoped there would be some news on the man that she still loved with everything in her. Unfortunately not but at least she hasn't had that second knock at the door yet, that was both comforting and a little worrying because at least then she would know exactly what was going on.

Molly just wanted to get on with what she needed to get on with before she could go home because in honestly she didn't feel like being here today. It was the first time in a very long time when she didn't want to be anywhere near base. She helped with taking kit off a lorry that had not long come in. It felt nice to just keep her mind off of everything that was going on in her own life. She wasn't sure when she would actually get any news but if Elvis had gone out there to find Charles then there was a good possibility that he would find him no matter what.

Molly had been tempted to text Georgie to see if she knew anything but every time she went to press send she just couldn't bring herself to actually text the other woman, she was her friend and had been there when she needed someone but right now she would rather just deal with this herself. Belinda had come to see her a few days ago but in honesty her mother had got on her nerves more so than she had been helping, she kept fussing over Molly and she didn't want that. Molly wasn't sick, she wasn't injured, she was missing her ex husband and had wanted to get him back at all costs but every time she tried to explain that she just found herself walking away from her mother for a while so that she could just breathe.

She loved her mother more than anything but what she had needed was someone to understand and unfortunately Belinda didn't.

Her thoughts turned to Sandra and she wondered just how she was doing and Molly had been thinking that maybe she could see if she could find her and maybe they could sit down and have a talk. It wasn't as if Sandra had gone through something like that every day. It was just the fact that she had been taken because of her nationality. Someone liked taking British women and selling them on the markets.

Molly counted the stuff and then looked down at her clipboard to make sure that they had everything in that had been stated on the sheet of paper and when she found that everything was there she would tick it off and then go back to checking everything else. She remembered doing this before she went out to Sierra Leone and all the stuff that she had to make sure they had, now she was trying to make sure they had everything brought back to the base.

She signed the paper to say that everything had been there and handed it over to the crew that would put the stuff away.

Jeeps moved back and forth passed her but she never looked up until one stopped a little bit away from her and she ignored it, it was usually some person that wanted to check that everything had been brought back. It wasn't until she saw the guy that she had been working with, Andrews she thinks he said, look up that she moved her eyes over to who had vacated the jeep and there standing there was the very guy that she had been waiting to see.

Surprisingly there didn't seem to be anything broken, Charles had actually come back from a tour without being hurt and for that she was really relieved. Molly stood there for a moment just watching him and then she moved, more like ran, towards him and put her arms around him. He caught her well enough and held onto her tightly. His arms holding on to her like there was no one else in this world that he would rather be hugging right now. He was home and that was all that was important.

Molly closed her eyes and thanked God, even though she wasn't religious or anything, that he was here with her and that he was okay. Or at least he looked okay but whatever was going on in his head was a little different than to the outside injuries.

They continued to hold on to each other for a moment before she pulled back and looked up at him, her love was home, and she felt that her heart was pounding hard in her chest because of the fact that he was home and here and she just didn't want to let him go again.

He put his hands on her cheeks and his lips on hers and gave her the first kiss she has had in a little while. He was out in Syria longer than he would've liked especially when it came to the fact that Special Forces were sent into get them out after the airstrike that really shouldn't have happened without their knowledge.

The kiss lasted for a moment before she was the first to pull away, a movement that looked like hurt him but she just wanted to know what had happened or if anyone else was safe. Molly needed to know if the team that he had gone out with, 2 Section, was still alright. They had been her team before she married him and unfortunately after their divorce she asked to be assigned to another team away from Charles but now she regrets that.

"Is everyone else alright? Anyone hurt?" Molly knew that she was asking too many questions but honestly she didn't know how to get the words out otherwise.

Charles looked down at the floor, after moving his hands from her cheeks, for a moment and swallowed hard. He shook his head, no not everyone was alright. He brought his eyes up to look at her once more "Brains and Fingers were badly hurt and it's touch and go right now"


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry that I haven't written another chapter sooner, i have decided that i'm going to be working on other things in RL too but!**

 **I had a review that asked for a weekend treat and another chapter so here is the next chapter.**

 **Unfortunately i don't know when I will be writing another one so i do apologise for the time between chapters but i do hope you enjoy this one and thank you for your patience.**

 **For those who will probably want to know what happened in Syria, i can promise that there will be a flashback chapter but that one will probably take longer to write!**

-.-

" _Brains and Fingers were badly hurt and it's touch and go right now"_ it seemed to repeat in her head as they headed towards the hospital that they were in. It wasn't the first time that she had sat in a car travelling to a hospital were her team mates were in. Only last time it had been Charles and Smurf.

They had headed in and found out as much as they could and then it was just the waiting game.

Molly spent her time between the two rooms and she honestly hoped that they would be alright. The last thing she wanted to do was go to the funerals of two of the guys that had been her friends since Afghan.

A few hours later and Charles had brought her a cup of tea, the hospital tea was pretty grim unfortunately but at least she had something in her hands that would keep them still for a little while. He sat down in the chair beside her and looked towards the window that looked into Fingers' room and he wasn't sure what he really felt especially when he had survived and yet two of his team were lying in hospital beds and they weren't sure if they would actually get any better.

"What happened out there?" Molly asked after a moment but her eyes were down looking at her hands and the tea that she had in one of them.

Charles was quiet for a moment before he looked over at her "I don't really know" he said but cleared his throat. He looked away from her before taking a sip of his coffee.

Molly looked over at him at that moment and pushed her eyebrows together because how could he not know what had happened out there. When she came back from Afghan it was literally all she could think about and it had got her in such a state that talking about it to someone who wasn't in the Army was difficult, trying to make her mother understand just what she had gone through was hard and she knew that Belinda wouldn't understand even if the poor woman tried.

She felt like he was hiding something from her and yet Molly knew that she couldn't get him to tell her if he didn't want too. Molly felt like he was pulling away from her even if he had got her a cuppa and had sat with her for all of those hours but it still felt like he wasn't completely here.

"I'm going to stretch my legs" Molly said after a moment before getting up and walking down the corridor anyway without Charles even saying anything.

His eyes followed her down the corridor away from him and there was a voice in his head that was playing over and over again and that belonged to Bones, a voice that he heard every time he had been in her presence. " _She never told me the name of the guy but i knew that she had been hurt; for Christ sake stop putting her through so much_ "

Charles hated thinking this but maybe Bones had been right, maybe he needed to stop hurting Molly. There was only one way in which he could do that.

-.-

Molly came to a stop outside and she sat down on a bench, the same one she had sat down on before and then sighed to herself as she dug into her pocket and grabbed out her mobile. She rang up to find out how Adam was and promised that she would be back home later but it could be late. Elizabeth had told her that Adam could stay with them for the night so that she didn't have to worry about that and she felt really bad about being away from her son. More than anything she just wanted to get back home to him.

She put her mobile back into her pocket and was about to get up when a familiar face came walking up to her and she gave him a soft smile.

"How are Brains and Fingers?" Elvis asked and looked over at Molly who honestly looked glum.

"No change" she admitted before playing with her empty tea cup. More than anything it felt like everything was going against them. Molly knew that she had been in this same position years ago but more than anything she wanted them to be okay, it was a long road from here especially with getting back to the Army but their families who were both in with them would want them to wake up.

Elvis frowned a little before looking away and watching as a red car was parking up. "Hows Charlie?" he asked and looked back at her.

Molly sighed, she wasn't sure how he was because he just kept everything from her. "I don't know" she admitted before bringing her eyes up to look over at him. "What happened over there Elvis? I mean you had first hand account of what happened out there"

Elvis watched her for a moment and knew just what it was that she was on about but knew that it wasn't any of his own business, Charlie would probably have a go at him rather than pat him on the back thanking him for his involvement. "It's nothing to do with me Molly, I only went out there to find him and the team to bring them back home and I did that" he nodded at her.

She went to open her mouth when her phone pinged and she got it out of her pocket. The message was from Charles.

"Brains is awake" Molly spoke before looking over at Elvis who looked just as relieved as she felt. She stood up and waited as Elvis did too before walking back into the hospital, putting her empty cup into the bin as she did so.

When they got to where Brains was they saw Charles was looking in through the window and as Molly came to the window she to saw that Brains was coming around and she was so glad about that. Now they needed Fingers to come around. Brains was getting a kiss on the forehead from his mother and Molly couldn't help but smile softly at that. He would probably be confused and a groggy for a little while but at least he was finally awake.

-.-

Due to the fact that it could be a while for Brains to wake up properly Molly and Charles decided that they were going to head back with the promise that Brains' parents would let him know that they were there; they promised they would so the two of them left.

They were on the motorway when Molly finally decided to bring up what she had been asking him earlier. "Why are you pretending that you don't remember?" she asked and glanced over at him.

Charles kept his eyes on the road but he knew what she was talking about especially when he knew that she had seen how tense he had been when she asked the first time what he remembered. "Not everything is worth remembering" he said after a moment and knew that he should tell her the truth but honestly he was tired and just wanted to get to his own bed. He might ask if he can stay on base near her for the night because there was no way he was going to be able to drive any further than that.

But the truth was that there was just so much that he was guilty for. Not listening when they were told to get out of the area before the strikes started, for Fingers and Brains getting hurt and now laying in the hospital. For hurting Molly all those years when he didn't fight hard enough to keep her.

Now he wanted so badly to keep her, he wanted to be the man that she loved again but there was always the fear that he would lose her. When she had been taken in Sierra Leone he knew that he would fight so damn hard to get her back and then they did get her back he found out about Adam and his mother tried to come in between them once more. Then he was sent into Syria and almost didn't make it back to her. He didn't want to keep doing this.

Molly took that and she looked out the window at the cars that passed them and really wished she could snap him out of it.

The silence stayed with them all the way back to her place. Which was a long way from the hospital.

-.-

When they got back Charles turned the car off but kept his eyes forward; the silence was so thick that he wasn't sure if he should say anything or not.

He slowly moved his eyes away from the window and over to her, she was beautiful and more than anything he wanted to be able to go home to her but at the end of the day they were still separated even if they did have Adam. Charles moved his hand away from the steering wheel and put it against her cheek and let his thumb caress the skin there. It was still just as soft as it had been earlier when he had pulled her into the kiss with his hands on her cheeks. "I've been thinking" he said after a moment.

"Oh dear, that's dangerous" she said as a joke to just lighten the moment before she looked over at him, a small smile pulling at her lips.

"Well my teachers did say that if i had half a brain i would be dangerous" he replied back to her with a small smile too.

A memory pulled at her mind of them when she had said that before and it had been so much more simple back then but now everything seemed to be so complicated.

"What have you been thinking about?" Molly asked this time and her eyes watched him.

"I'm thinking about leaving the Army"

Molly's mouth fell open at that before she closed it back up and then finally managed to speak "Why?" she hadn't expected that at all and now that she had heard it she wasn't sure whether or not she was dreaming.

"Because I'm tired of leaving you and having things like this happen most of the time. I want to be your husband and a father to Adam and I don't want you to always wonder if i'm going to come home. I love you Molly whether you are Dawes or James I just want to be with you"

Molly listened to it and found that her heart was pounding hard in her chest and she watched him. "You don't have to leave the Army to be with me" she hadn't wanted him to leave the Army.

"I know but I would eventually leave so why not make it now" he said with a soft smile at her.

"So, what do you say?" he asked her "Do you want to get married again?"

"I.." she started.


	25. Chapter 25

**I want to say thank you to everyone who sent their best wishes for myself and mum.**

 **I will update as the time goes on but at the moment the cancer hasn't spread and they are pushing for her to have the operation.**

 **-.-**

 **What really happened in Syria**

"Don't forget 2 Section we have a certain amount of time before the airstrikes start so we will have to hurry up and get everything done" Charles said to the team before they started to do their job.

"Bit messed up aint it, Bossman?" Brains asked and looked over at Captain James "I mean we have to come in before the air strikes start and then get back out, what happens if we don't do everything done before they actually strike?"

"Well then we will have a failed mission and no one wants to be around when those bombs start falling" it was the truth and a fact. Charles wanted to get his team out of here before anything happened.

If Charles was being honest with himself then he didn't want to be here in the first place. He wanted to be at home with Molly, Adam and Sam. He wanted his little family around him and for all of this to be put behind him. He had been thinking about it while on the plane ride over to Syria, it was time for him to hang up his boots and make a life outside of the Army. Even if at one point he wasn't ready but now he was. Now he was ready to put it all behind him.

Other than Sierra Leone he knows that Molly doesn't do anything outside the UK anymore and now he was here, he wanted more than anything to be at home.

"Why would anyone want to stay here?" Their medic, Emma Daniels, asked and grabbed her kit out of the back of their vehicle.

Charles sighed under his breath. She was definitely not as loud as Molly or as troublesome as Georgie. It was nice actually because it might mean he would have a quiet tour when it comes to the medic side of the team. "I honestly have no idea, Daniels" he admitted and watched her for a moment but then dropped his eyes. He really didn't understand any of this sometimes but he had to trust that those higher than him could see the big picture.

Emma Daniels was a new medic on 2 Section, since he and Molly got married she had gone to another section, Georgie stayed in the UK with Elvis and now he was on his third medic which wasn't that unusual but sometimes it was nice to have something that never changed. After Molly and Richards butt heads while in Sierra Leone he wasn't sure if he wanted to keep her in the section but at the moment she didn't seem to be causing anyone any trouble, _she_ was the loudest one of the team right now.

They were meant to be having a male medic but it had been changed at the last minute and in came Emma Daniels.

2 Section was looking through the houses but most of them were completely deserted because most people had common sense and got the hell out of here but there were people who stayed because of the fact it was all they really had.

It was sound of gun fire but it was in the distance and they were in contact with their home base at all times.

After what felt like forever of going through everything they knew they were running out of time and had to get back to the base because of the airstrikes.

"2 Section back on the truck" Captain James said into his radio and headed towards the truck himself because honestly he just wanted to get the hell out of here and to Skype with Molly so that he could tell her about everything but then he found someone and he stopped. He put his hand out because it was a little boy, he was about Adam's age and he looked like his son. It was scary.

"Bossman" the voice of Fingers came over the radio.

"No, it's okay stay here" he said and then turned his radio down so that he wouldn't scare the small boy "It's okay" he said with a smile and then slowly started to crouch down. All Charles could see was Adam and he wanted to get him the hell out of here. No one should have to live here.

He knew that the time was running out but he couldn't leave the boy and as Charles started to stand up and walked towards him the small boy ran off in the direction of what he guessed was his home. "No, wait" he said and then went to go after him but there was a pull on his arm and he looked to the owner of the hand and found that it was Fingers.

"We have to go Bossman" he said and nudged his head towards the truck where the others were waiting.

"We have to get that boy out of here, Fingers" Captain James said and looked in the direction of where the boy had disappeared too.

Fingers looked in the direction of where his captain was looking and didn't see anyone. "There's no one there, Boss, we have to go before those bombs start hitting this area, you know that we have a certain amount of time and we're running out of it"

Captain James put his hands on Fingers' arms before looking at him in the face "I have to get that boy out of here and you and the team are going to get out of here and back to base"

"And what the hell do we tell Molly if you get killed?" Fingers put his own hands on his captain's arms too. "You have a kid at home with the woman you love, don't get killed over something we can't change, Bossman we have to go" he tried again and this time done something that he's never done before and actually grabbed hold of his boss and pulled him in the direction of the truck.

The rest of 2 section was waiting for them outside of the truck

But it was too late because there were the sound of jets and then someone yelling the words "INCOMING" and then the loud bang that was pretty near them and then they were all being thrown by the blast.

Hitting things that knocked both them and their communications out.

2 section were now in the very hot danger zone and it would be a few days before anyone found them.

-.-

Captain James couldn't say how long he had been out because of the fact it was dark, now he couldn't say if it was evening or early in the morning but his head was aching, hell everything seemed to be aching.

"Fingers" he said because of the fact that Fingers had been near him. "Brains?"

It hurt him to move and be wasn't sure what was hurt or in honesty if he had any limbs left but there was definitely pain coming from all over his body.

There was no response from him calling out for Fingers or Brains but there was a noise to his right side and he gently moved his head in that direction. They were easy targets for anyone who was still here and of course everyone knows how they would love to get their hands on a British Soldier.

He tried reaching for his gun but it wasn't anywhere near him and then a light came on and there was the face of their Medic and he has never been so glad to see Emma Daniels as he was right now. "Are you hurt?" he asked quickly.

"No, Boss but Fingers and Brains are pretty banged up though and we will need to get them out of here"

"What about the others?"

"There's some cuts and maybe bruises but honestly they fared better than they probably should have and definitely better than Brains and Fingers and they are trying to get back to command but it's not looking good right now"

Charles let out a breath and wish that he hadn't because it hurt. "Well we'll have to keep trying and they definitely won't leave us out of here"

"Unless they think we're dead..." she said and looked down at him.

"Even then they won't leave us behind" He said and looked up at her "We're getting out of this Emma, trust me on that" Charles gave her a smile.

This was his fault.

For the first time in his life he has fucked up and it had hurt his own team and may cause two of that team to die.

Emma checked him over and was sure that nothing was broken but she knew that he was going to be in pain for a little bit with how hard they had all been thrown. "I'm going to keep an eye on you though and if anything changes then you're going to have to tell me" she was adamant on that and was going to check up on him every twenty minutes or so.

Charles sat up but he felt like he had been knocked down with their truck. "We have to move because of the fact we're sitting ducks here for anyone who wants to take a walk out"

Emma looked over at him "Why would there be anyone still here?" she had asked a familiar question earlier.

"If this place was bombed then it was bombed for a reason and there are people still here" he looked in the direction of where he had seen the boy and felt guilty for all of it. For not getting the boy, if there had been one in the first place, and for still being here when the bombs fell.

"We've found a place to go" A new recruit spoke and his nickname was Prof.

Emma looked down at Captain James and said "Moving Brains and Fingers could be risky but unfortunately I think it's something we need to do if we have to get somewhere safe"

Charles nodded once "Let's get them in" he then carefully stood up even though his body was screaming at him to sit back down but he pushed passed the pain and helped with Fingers and then waited with him while the others went back for Brains and for now they would have to be safe here but they didn't have a lot of ammo if anyone decided to come calling for them.

They would have to keep trying for the base so that they could send another team out to find them.

Charles sat down on some rubble and waited the night out.

-.-

It was slowly starting to get lighter and his thoughts were on Molly when she found out that he and his team were stuck in one of the places that had been bombed. She would be getting that knock on the door and his heart ached at the fact she would probably be thinking that he was dead.

Emma came down and sat next to him "How you feeling, Bossman?" she asked and checked him over once more.

"Why were you drafted in to this, Daniels?" he asked and looked over at her.

She had blonde hair and he was sure that he could see green in her eyes and Charles was sure that any man or woman would be lucky to have her but he had his own medic at home that he wanted to get back to. "Well the other guy broke his ankle and in came me" she said and watched him. "But the team hasn't been so bad, I even kicked Fingers' butt at poker the other night, he didn't like it"

That made Charles grin and he looked down "Just don't get Brains to play against you because then you really will lose" He then took a deep breath which really hurt before looking back up at her. "How are they doing?"

"They are still out and we need to get them back to base as soon as we can but we can't talk to the others"

Even their truck had been taken out and there was no way they could get back to their base or even radio in to say that they were okay and needed to be evacuated by helicopter because that was the fastest way to get them out of there.

-.-

The waiting was hell, they would try their radios and then wait and then try again but nothing. They could probably walk faster than this but there were people injured and two of them were criticially and there was nothing that they could really do but wait and pray that the Army would find them before their enemies did.

And it was on the evening of the second day of waiting that Charles finally spoke to Emma and asked her if there was anyone waiting at home for her.

"What made you join the Army?" Charles asked Emma after a moment of quiet.

"I wanted to make a difference and help out people I wouldn't be able to help out while sitting in an office"

"Well yeah you won't find this in a 9 to 5 job"

Emma smiled and looked down "That's for damn sure"

Emma was down to earth and he liked that, she wasn't fazed at the fact they were stuck here, in fact she was a lot calmer than some people he's worked with.

"Anyone be worried about you back home?" he asked and watched her when she was looking down.

"Parents, siblings but no one else, what about you Bossman?"

Charles took a deep breath which hurt and even talking hurt but if he didn't talk then he would be going out of his own mind and that was the last thing he wanted right now. "I have someone or at least I hope I do, we broke up and got a divorce but I just want to be with her, I have two sons too"

"What's her name?"

"Molly, she was a medic and I met her on her first tour of Afghanistan" Charles could see it. He could remember how worried he had been when she had gone in to that minefield to rescue Smurf, he remembered holding on to her at the hospital when she cried after finding out that one of their ANA was attacked because he wouldn't kill her. He remembered the date in Bath. He just wanted to be at home with her and his two sons.

"Well then we best get you back to Molly because I don't want her to come after me if I don't keep an eye on you" Emma just wanted to get back to the base at the moment and away from this place.

Charles let a soft laugh out "She would probably want to rip your hair out" he was teasing her because Molly had told him how she used to be but she's definitely calmed down since joining the Army.

"Boss there's something going on in the building a few doors down, not that it's got any doors" Monk spoke over to Captain James. They were keeping look out for anyone who would discover where they were and it seems as if there were people who had been looking for either them or for something else and would come across them if they continued on down this road.

Charles stood up and held on to his side before he walked over to where Monk was and then looked down the end where he had said there was movement and honestly hoped that they didn't come across them because they wouldn't be able to hold off on the amount of ammo they had.

"They are looking for someone" Monk whispered to Charles and watched as they were going from building to building.

"They know someone's here but they can't seem to find them" Charles replied and for the first time he was scared. He just wanted to go home to his family, he wanted to be back with Molly, hell he even wanted to see his mother. He also wanted to get his team back in one piece and with two of them down it felt like he was going to fail this mission and it was all his own fault but he was damn well going to make sure that the baddies didn't take them without a fight. "Keep quiet guys" he said softly to those behind him.

His eyes stayed on those that were going from the buildings, they had a shit load of weapons and even an RPG. They were sitting ducks here and for the first time he wondered if he would be able to go home to his family, to get his team back. For him to walk off the plane at Brize Norton and thank God that he was home because it doesn't feel like it right now.

For the first time he felt like he was losing faith in those above him.

"They are almost here, Boss, what do we do?" Monk asked.

Charles looked down at his gun and the ammo that he had on him, it wasn't very much but if they had to then they would have to split up Fingers and Brains ammo and pray that the enemy would tire before they ran out of ammo but he knew that that wasn't very likely.

"Daniels, stay with Brains and Fingers, the rest... on me" he said and then took a deep breath which hurt like hell.

They were in the next building and knew that they would be on them soon enough. They needed to take control of the situation for as long as they could.

It was the silence of where they were that made his ears pick up when he heard the sound of a drone but unfortunately they had nothing that they could signal to it with them so while they were looking for them there was nothing they could do and if they moved out of this place then they were likely to be shot.

He really hoped that whoever was watching the screen would be able to know it was them before any shots were exchanged.

Then the moment they had been waiting for but dreaded was upon them when the enemy moved from the next building and was heading towards theirs. Charles actually said goodbye to Molly and Sam and Adam. He said goodbye to them softly before one of the men made it to the doorway and then he shot him.

Now it would bring hell down on them.

They managed to take some of them down and then out of nowhere there was this rumbling and he heard the shots but they continued on with their own until there was no one left.

The sound of the helicopter moved away from them and Charles knew that they had to find somewhere to land if it was who he thought it was. There were only one group who would come in guns blazing and that was Special Forces.

"Boss there's someone coming" Prof spoke keeping his eyes on the way in front of him.

Charles checked his rounds and he was really low in fact his side arm was literally the only thing he had. He pulled it out of his thigh holster and took the safety off before pointing it towards the doorway.

"Friendlies!" a familiar voice called out and Charles sighed under his breath but he kept his gun up anyway until a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, I am so glad to see you" Charles smiled at him and put the safety back on his hand gun and pushed it back into his thigh holster.

"I'm pretty sure that's the first time you have ever said that, Charlie" Elvis said with a grin before looking around the room at the team. "Anyone hurt?"

"Two, Fingers and Brains, they're in the back with the medic... don't fall in love with this one"

"Hey, I'm not the only one" Elvis replied before walking into the back room. He saw the blonde standing up with her gun. "It's okay we're getting you guys out of here" he smiled at her and nudged his head towards the two that looked pretty banged up. "What's the situation?"

"They need to get out of here, after the blast hit and knocked everyone out they seemed to be the two that got it worse and need to get back to base camp"

Elvis nodded and bit on his lip "Well that's why we're here" he smiled before walking out the room. "Oh, Charlie just to warn you..." he didn't finish that sentence because Bones walked in and he saw Charlie's face fall. "Yep, Bones" he muttered.

They managed to get Brains and Fingers out of the building and to the two choppers that were waiting for them, it meant that the team was split in two and Elvis and Bones with the rest of the SF team went in one and 2 Section including the injured Brains and Fingers went in the other and Charles was just glad to into the chopper in the first place.

The rushing of the wind hit his face as they raced through the air and it felt so much better than sitting in a building waiting to die when the enemy actually found them.

-.-

The two helicopters finally landed where they were staying and those that could walk got off first before Brains and Fingers were carried off and they were both rushed to the hospital that they had and Charles took his helmet off and chewed on his lip. He would end up in the hospital too but at the moment he just wanted to have some quiet time to himself.

Charles couldn't tell how many days they were out there but it was pretty rough.

He felt a tap on the shoulder and then looked over to see Elvis walking beside him. "I am so glad that you finally got us, how did Georgie take it to you coming here?"

"She said that if I didn't go then she would definitely divorce me so I had no choice but to come"

Charles wanted to laugh but he ached. "Did you have to sell your soul to the devil to get Bones to let you come?"

"Pretty much" Elvis admitted "But at least it ended up good, we found you and kicked some ass"

"What would your parents say about this?"

"Still disappointed no doubt"

Charles looked forward this time with a smile and saw Bones who was walking ahead of them this time. "I guess I should thank him for saving my ass"

"I'm not getting involved with this" Elvis held up his hands and moved away from Charles' side and then walked in the other direction. This had nothing to do with him, he was staying well clear of all the drama that came with Bones and Molly and Charlie.

"McClyde" Charles called out and then watched as he stopped and that meant he could catch up with him. "I just want to say-" he was cut off.

"Don't" Bones said and shook his head. "What the hell are you even doing out here anyway, James?"

"I'm doing my job" he retorted before raising an eyebrow. Who the hell was he to criticize him for doing exactly the same thing as him. Well Charles wasn't SF but he was Army and pretty much doing the same thing.

"Your job?" Bones scoffed at him and looked away from Captain James for a moment.

"Is this about _Molly_?" Charles asked him and that had Bones looking back at him. "It is, aint it? You don't like me because of Molly"

"She never told me the name of the guy but I knew that she had been hurt; for Christ Sake stop putting her through so much and go home" with that he walked towards the door he had been hoping to walk through.

"You love her" Charles called out to him.

"Go home Captain, to your family" he opened the door and walked in to the building leaving Charles out on the tarmac.

-.-

Molly sat on the sofa with tears in her eyes as she listened to what Charles had just told her. What she didn't know was that he was hiding the last part from her about Bones.

"I screwed up big time, Molly and I will face whatever comes my way but I definitely want to leave the Army to be here with you and my two boys"

Molly got off the sofa and walked over to the chair where Charles was sitting and got down onto her knees in front of him. "Whatever comes our way, we will face it together" she said softly.

Charles put his hands on her cheeks and used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that had been falling from her eyes. "I know we will, I know" he put his forehead against hers and knew exactly why Bones had fallen in love with her... because his Molly had a good heart.


	26. Chapter 26

I just wanted to add an update and say that I will be late on posting anymore chapters because over the weekend my 27 year old Nephew was killed and to be honest it just feels like it's one thing after another and it's all catching up with me again.

I'm not taking a break but I will be late on posting things.

I hope you understand.

On the update about my mum she has to have another lung function test next week and then that hopefully is the last one.

She's already passed her heart stress test and we thought she had passed her LFT but apparently it's inconclusive and the original date for the test was the 17th but thankfully they brought it forward.

Thank you for understanding the breaks I'm taking and I hope to be posting again soon but for now I hope you enjoy the chapters that I've put up.

Kerrie xx


	27. Chapter 27

This is something i never thought i would have to write.

On sunday morning my mum was taken ill with an infection and they had to take her to hospital.

Even though she was burning up they said they had to treat it as a suspected case of Covid but fortunately it turned out that she didn't have it. That's the good news.

The bad news is that my mum won't be having an operation because the cancer has spread to her liver. The op was the only option to cure what she had, they have now taken that option off the table and going with the chemo to try and extend her life.

This is the most devastating thing to happen to us after losing my nephew last month.

I am devastated by this news as you can probably imagine.

At the moment I'm not sure i can carry on with any of my stories because none of that matters anymore.

Mum is still in hospital at the moment because of the fact that she still has to have a new stent put in as the other one was what made her ill in the first place.

I am truly sorry that i might not ever finish my stories because i really wanted to have you read the endings but unfortunately this news has come in and I'm not sure how to even carry on with things that don't seem to matter to me anymore.

I just want to say thank you to everyone that has reviewed all of my stories, it really does mean a lot to me.

Maybe one day i might come back to these but at the moment i want to try and spend as much time as i can with my mum.


End file.
